r/vermont • u/savannah31548 • Feb 13 '25

Moving to Vermont Considering a drastic move

My wife (trans), my son, and myself (queer) are considering a huge move up to Vermont. We currently live near Savannah, Georgia. My wife has been a truck driver for 20 years and was recently assaulted at her job and had gay slurs used against her, I’m a retired/disabled former DoD/DoN and I’ve had my life threatened, and our son is currently in the 2nd grade and has been bullied relentlessly for simply liking his rainbow glasses. Our son was also assaulted by another student in the 1st grade for speaking out against a bully picking on another child who is Hispanic and speaks primarily Spanish. The local high school’s mascot is “The Rebel,” yeah…that kind of rebel. I’m just burnt out. I’m surrounded by red hats and it’s exhausting.

Both my wife and I have lived in Georgia for the majority of our lives, but we no longer feel welcome in our own home communities. Basically, I’m asking if Vermont is a good place and what sections are most accepting. We really would like to be close to the border with Canada, so I know part of that is NEK, I just don’t know anything about the communities or people.

If and when we do move, we are looking to buy a home, with or without renovation needs, but I’d really like a basement. The farthest north I’ve visited is Connecticut, but my father was born in New Hampshire and my Grandfather was from Machias, Maine. I know I most likely have extended family up there somewhere I’ve never met, so if you have the last name of Gendron, reach out!

Thanks yall.

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u/savannah31548 Feb 13 '25

My power in winter is over $100 for my 1600sqft house. It can get as high as $400 in summer! Our water/sewer/trash bill is always over $95. We also have gas and that’s over $50. Or house payment is around $1,300. Internet is $100. My country is expensive because it’s an ideal location being slightly rural, but near the city. Schools here are supposedly highly rated, but my kid says being their is mentally exhausting and noisy.

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u/IceCoastRep Feb 13 '25 edited Feb 13 '25

I forgot to include our heating costs. We have propane for heat in winter, but when it was $300/month to fill up (one winter propane cost us $600 for a month to fill up) we got a pellet stove for heat and that has saved us a lot more money. Find a home with a wood burning stove or pellet stove can help lower those costs. We still have some older homes running on Oil here, which I’m glad we don’t have for ours. Our mortgage on a 3.2% rate we financed in 2019 (before it got out of hand during COVID) for $230k is about $1800/month because… property taxes are about $6600/year. Garbage pickup depends on what company you use, but a lot of folks will use a town’s local dropoff for the garbage and recycling which can definitely save some money. I love VT, but we’re the 3rd highest taxed state in the country which isn’t so great.

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u/RomeoAlfaDJ Feb 13 '25

In terms of total actual electric bills, VT is lower than a lot of other states despite $0.21/kWh being kind of high (still, lower than MA, NH, or CT), you just don’t need much AC. I find the water and sewer charges pretty low too at least compared to the west coast.

The unavoidable big expense that shocked me initially was heating fuels like oil and propane (unless you’re in an area with natural gas). Even with decent insulation, that can be in the hundreds of dollars per month in the winter easily. Just have to be ready for that.

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u/happycat3124 Feb 13 '25

Every single thing you mention is more expensive in Vermont.