Housing costs are squeezing a lot of Vermonters, and a new poll puts a number on it.
One in five Vermonters say they've struggled to keep up with housing payments over the past year, according to the Vermont Public 2026 Poll. Twenty percent of people surveyed in September said they had been late or come up short on rent or mortgage payments because of other financial burdens, Vermont Public reported Oct. 1. Another 12% said they almost fell behind.
Late payments leave people vulnerable to eviction or foreclosure. The poll results show how many Vermonters live with some degree of housing insecurity as costs have climbed during a historic housing shortage, mortgage rates have stayed high and wages haven't kept up, the station reported.
Young people hit hardest
The pressure falls hardest on younger residents. Twenty-seven percent of respondents ages 18 to 44 said they struggled to keep up with housing costs, compared with 22% of people ages 45 to 64 and 9% of those over 65.
Liz Courtney, 46, of Wolcott, told Vermont Public that she and her husband bought a house with her parents a few years ago, expecting to share expenses. Then the marketing and communications firm where she works cut back her hours. Her mother, on a fixed income, has taken on more of the mortgage.
"We're putting off repairs on our septic system and our deck," Courtney said.
Jennifer Beane-Edgar, 43, an administrative assistant at a dentist's office, lives with her children in a small subsidized apartment in Hartford. She'd like a bigger place, but affordable options nearby are limited, and she needs to stay close to services for her kids with disabilities. "Sometimes it's choosing between, you know, medical necessities for my kids, or gas in the car, or food," she said.
The median sale price of a primary home in Vermont reached $379,000 in 2025, an increase of more than 91% from 10 years earlier, according to state property transfer tax data cited by Vermont Public.
The share of renters who could afford a home has collapsed. In 2021, nearly a third of all Vermont renters had the income needed to buy a median-priced home. Two years later, that number had fallen to 6%, according to the state's most recent Housing Needs Assessment.
More than 30% of all Vermont households were cost-burdened as of 2024, meaning they spend more than a third of their monthly income on housing, which makes it harder to afford food, transportation and health care. That's roughly in line with the national average, the station reported. It also pointed to a recent national study that found a growing number of middle-income renters have fallen behind on rent, in part because everyday essentials cost more.
Cost of living was the top concern for many poll respondents, and housing, typically a person's single biggest expense, was close behind. Thirty-one percent said the most important problem facing the state is affordability or the economy, and another 13% named housing and homelessness.
Why it matters for Contractors
The poll is a snapshot of the market contractors are building for. When one in five residents is falling behind on rent or a mortgage, and only about 6% of renters could afford a median-priced home as of 2023, the demand for homes that working Vermonters can actually afford is plain.
That demand shows up in the kinds of projects getting built: shared-equity condos, subsidized rentals and factory-built starter homes aimed at buyers priced out of the regular market. Contractors who can deliver those homes efficiently, and keep costs in check, are working on the part of the market where the need is greatest.
The poll also points to a second kind of work. Courtney's family is putting off septic and deck repairs because money is tight. When households are stretched, maintenance and remodeling projects get delayed, which can mean smaller budgets, more phased jobs and more homeowners asking for help prioritizing the most urgent repairs.
Younger Vermonters, the group most likely to be falling behind, are also the first-time buyers and young families builders count on. Their struggles are a reminder that the price of new homes, not just the number built, matters to Vermont's housing future.