By the 1840s, small firms had begun excavations, but marble quarries proved profitable only after the railroad arrived in 1851.

[7] A large number of Italians with experience in the industry immigrated and brought their families to Rutland.

Most of the town was split off as West Rutland and Proctor, which contained the bulk of the marble quarries.

The city of Rutland has a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb) with long, cold, and snowy winters and warm, moist summers.

Rutland is the 3rd largest city in Vermont and is not located on, or near, either of the state's two major Interstate highways.

In addition, the city appears on auxiliary guide signs on the Adirondack Northway (I-87) before Exits 17 and 20.

To the west, U.S. 4 has been rebuilt as a 4-lane freeway to the New York state line, a distance of just over 18 miles (29 km).

[12] Rutland is home to "The Bus", run by Marble Valley Regional Transit District, a local bus system costing $0.50 per person per ride ($0.25 for discount qualified riders), and $1–2 for out-of-town commuter and connector buses, with other expenses covered largely by taxpayers.

Premier Coach's Vermont Translines serves Rutland daily with two intercity bus connections between Burlington, Lebanon, New Hampshire and Albany, New York, in its partnership with Greyhound.

Major area employers are Rutland Regional Medical Center, General Electric Aircraft Engines (GE), OMYA, Green Mountain Power and Carris Reels.

[23] Rutland Regional Medical Center is Vermont's second-largest health care facility,[24] with 188 inpatient beds and 120 physicians.

The downtown section contains the Rutland Free Library,[25] the Paramount Theater[26] and Merchant's Row, a restored street dating back to the mid-19th century.

Rutland also has the 275-acre (111 ha) Pine Hill Park[27] offering mountain biking, hiking, and other outdoor recreation.

At the park's entrance is the Flip Side Skatepark,[28] municipally operated in an open-sided closed roof arena at the Giorgetti Athletic Complex.

In the early 1970s, the Rutland Halloween Parade was used as the setting of a number of superhero comic books, including Batman #237, Justice League of America #103, Freedom Fighters #6, Amazing Adventures #16, Avengers #83, and The Mighty Thor #207.

[29] Multiple episodes of the truTV reality show Speeders feature the Rutland City Police Department.

[citation needed] In Amazon's 2019 series Hanna, when the titular character is given a new identity under the name Mia Wolff, she is said to live in Rutland, Vermont.

These are: A publicly funded pre-kindergarten program for eligible families is offered through Rutland County Head Start on Meadow Street.

The city's print news comes from the Pulitzer Prize-winning[35] Rutland Herald, which publishes five days a week.

[36] "Sam's Good News" is a local weekly shopper/local-interest newspaper which is circulated throughout Central Vermont and upstate New York.