Randolph—By the Numbers

At last week’s "Our Town, Your Town" forum, interest was expressed in seeing more of the statistics shown on slides Friday by Carolyn Bennett of Two Rivers Regional Commission. The tables themselves are far too large to reprint in the paper, but here are some interesting tibits:

Population: Randolph’s population of 4822 in 1998 makes it the biggest town in the Two Rivers area (Woodstock’s second with 3395). Between 1960 and 1980 the town grew by 2275 to 4689 people, but since then growth has virtually halted, as it added only 133 people in 18 years. The population forecast for 2005 is 5091.

Randolph’s population has significantly more 18-24-year olds, as a percentage, than the state as a whole and somewhat more people over 65.

Employment: Randolph has slightly more jobs (2747) than workers (2274) and thus is a net importer of labor. Randolph’s job market is far more robust than any other in the county, most of which offer around only 500 jobs or fewer.

Randolph’s working citizens, mostly (1451) work right here in town. Other employment magnets for Randolph workers are Bethel (103), Montpelier (64), Barre (57), and New Hampshire (52).

Workers coming into Randolph hail from, in order: Braintree, Bethel, Brookfield, Northfield, Tunbridge, Royalton, Barre, Berlin, New Hampshire, Montpelier, and Williamstown.

Almost half of Randolph employers are in the service sector, compared with 35% for the state. While the town has 640 manufacturing jobs, the average wage in that sector is $26,593, some $10,000 below the state average in manufacturing.

Income: The median household income in Randolph in 1998 was $26,609, compared to$29,792 for the state as a whole. Per capita income was $10,730 compared to $13,527 statewide.

Regional Plan figures from 1989 show that Randolph has a lower median family income than most towns in the White River Valley. Randolph’s median family income, at $30,833, was lower than Bethel ($32,098), Braintree (33,125), Brookfield ($35,592), Royalton ($32,582), Sharon ($36,488) and Strafford ($35,417). Chelsea and Tunbridge were at $30,238 and $30,417 respectively. Rochester lagged at $27,935, but that was before the recent growth of several high-tech companies there.

Crime: Both Randolph town and Randolph Village have crime rates much lower than the state as a whole, when it comes to "Part I" serious crime. The rate per thousand for serious crimes is 19.6 for the town as a whole and 17.3 for the village, compared to a state rate of 39 per thousand.

When it comes to Part II crime, however, Randolph Village has a problem. Its rate is 117.5 crimes per thousand, compared to a state rate of 89.3. Part II crime includes forgery, fraud, embezzlement, stolen property, vandalism, sex and drug offenses, disorderly conduct and DWI, among others.

Housing prices: Randolph’s average residential value in 1999 was $90,332. That’s about the median value in the county; higher prices are in Brookfield, Fairlee, Strafford, and Thetford. Homes here cost significantly less than the state median, and are also likely to be 12 years older.

Natural Resources: Randolph has 2.9% of its 48.1 square miles formally protected by easement. On the other hand, development pressures are slight. In 20 years, only 86 acres changed from forest land to developed and in 20 years only 5 acres changed from non-forest land to developed land.