Official Federal Data
Chittenden County, Vermont
Burlington-South Burlington, VT · Population 169,758
9 Sources
Updated September 10, 2026
$96,759 up from the baseline named below
Median Income (nominal) vs 2019
$80,734 national
2.2% up from the baseline named below
Unemployment vs 2024
4.3% national
$16.4B up from the baseline named below
GDP (nominal) real change vs 2023
56.8% up from the baseline named below
Bachelor's+ vs 2019
35.7% national
Demographics & Population
Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 · 5-Year Estimates
Household Income
Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median Household (nominal)
$96,759 up from 2019 vs 2019
Per Capita
$52,322 up from 2019 vs 2019
Mean Household
$123,772 up from 2019 vs 2019
Poverty Rate
9.7% down from 2019 vs 2019
Median Income Comparison
Chittenden County$96,759
Vermont$81,203
National$80,734
Population Profile
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Table B01001, B02001, B03003
CohortsShare of total population
Under 18 · 17.2%
18-34 · 29.3%
35-54 · 24.3%
55-64 · 12.3%
65+ · 16.9%
Race & Ethnicity
Hispanic or Latino is an ethnic category and overlaps with the race categories above.
Educational Attainment
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003 · Population 25+
96.1%
High School+
National: 89.6%
up from national +6.5 pts vs national
56.8%
Bachelor's+
National: 35.7%
up from national +21.1 pts vs national
24.8%
Graduate+
National: 14.1%
up from national +10.7 pts vs national
Employment Overview
Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
169,758
Population
101,136
Labor Force
Employed
97,858
Unemployment Rate BLS LAUS 2025 annual
2.2% up from 2024 +0.3 pts vs 2024
Mean Commute 5 min below national avg
21.1 min
Work From Home vs 15.1% national
19.8%
Labor Force and Employed are ACS 5-Year survey estimates; the Unemployment Rate above comes from BLS LAUS, a separate monthly survey with its own methodology. The two won't reconcile by subtracting one from the other.
Key Takeaways
- Income premium: Households earn well above the national median, supporting strong retail and housing markets.
- Talent advantage: Bachelor's-or-higher attainment exceeds the national average by 21.1 pts, supports knowledge-economy and tech attraction.
Economy & Industry
Bureau of Labor Statistics QCEW · Bureau of Economic Analysis
$16.4B up from 2023 +2.5% vs 2023
Gross Domestic Product · 2024
+2.5% real (inflation-adjusted)
·
+5.5% nominal
· 2023 to 2024
Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis · level and nominal change from CAGDP2 (current dollars); real change from CAGDP9 (chained 2017 dollars), both all-industry total. The two series agree in 2017, the chain reference year, and diverge by the amount of price change since.
Key Takeaways
- Largest private-sector industry: Health Care and Social Assistance employs 17,558 workers (23.4% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $76,247. Every industry figure on this page is private sector; government employs a further 16,531 and is counted separately.
- Economic scale: Regional GDP of $16.4B (2024).
- Wage stratification: Finance and Insurance averages $138,718 while Accommodation and Food Services averages $30,636, a 4.5x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.
Source: BLS QCEW + BEA Regional GDP.
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Industry Concentration
Location Quotient measures regional specialization vs. national average. LQ > 1.0 = concentrated.
Cluster Depth
Source: BLS QCEW · Sub-sectors with LQ ≥ 1.5 indicate genuine cluster concentration
Concentrated Sub-Sectors
7 sub-sectors at LQ ≥ 1.5
Largest grouping among them is Manufacturing Cluster at 52.3% of the employment across all of them, which signals supply-chain fit for site selectors
7,113
Employment in the sub-sectors listed
4.15x
Peak sub-sector LQ
Sub-Sector Detail
Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing
4.15x 2,770
Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing
2.46x 539
Internet Publishing and Broadcasting
1.97x 443
Publishing Industries and Telecommunications
1.87x 1,105
Printing and Related Support Activities
1.76x 409
Sporting Goods, Hobby, Musical Instrument, Book, and Misc. Retailers
1.69x 1,664
Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar
1.57x 183
Attraction Opportunities
LQ < 0.5 with ≥ 50 employed, screened against local siting constraints. Source: BLS QCEW
0.10x
Transportation Equipment Manufacturing
119 employed
Freight-dependent sector with no rail-truck intermodal terminal anywhere in the state.
0.21x
Wood Product Manufacturing
57 employed
Freight-dependent sector with no rail-truck intermodal terminal anywhere in the state.
0.21x
Air Transportation
78 employed
0.37x
Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers
119 employed
Freight-dependent sector with no rail-truck intermodal terminal anywhere in the state.
0.42x
Management of Companies and Enterprises
716 employed
0.43x
Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing
97 employed
Freight-dependent sector with no rail-truck intermodal terminal anywhere in the state.
Screened on industrial power cost, rail-truck intermodal access, land base.
Industrial electricity in Vermont costs 12.39¢/kWh against 8.62¢/kWh nationally (2025).
Vermont has 0 rail-truck intermodal terminals.
Land area 537 sq mi, larger than 40% of US counties.
Sources: EIA, BTS NTAD, Census Gazetteer.
Key Takeaways
- Top specialization: Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing concentrates at 4.15x the national norm, strong concentration that anchors the local economy and supports supply-chain attraction strategy.
- Cluster depth: 7 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, but 52.3% of the employment across them depends on one source of demand: goods manufacturing. Read the count as depth within that single demand base rather than as spread across separate ones.
- Attraction whitespace: 6 sub-sectors register LQ < 0.5 with at least 50 employed, candidates for diversification or recruitment depending on labor-market fit.
Source: BLS QCEW sub-sector Location Quotients.
Housing & Affordability
Census ACS · HUD Fair Market Rents FY2026
Housing Overview
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates · Tables B25001, B25077, B25064, B25004
$439,200 up from the baseline named below
Median Home Value vs 2019
$1,646 up from the baseline named below
Rent/Mo vs 2019
63.9% up from the baseline named below
Owner-Occ vs 2019
4.6% down from the baseline named below
Vacancy vs 2019
0.5% available
for rent or sale
for rent or sale
4.5x
Home Value to Income Ratio
vs. ~4.1x national average
HUD Fair Market Rents (County Average)
Renter-household-weighted average across 19 town FMR areas · Source: HUD · Fair Market Rents FY2026 · Affordability threshold and renter cost burden from Census ACS B25119, B25070
Studio
$1,497/mo$1,497 to $1,497
1 Bedroom
$1,651/mo$1,651 to $1,651
2 Bedroom
$2,140/mo$2,140 to $2,140
3 Bedroom
$2,745/mo$2,745 to $2,745
4 Bedroom
$2,833/mo$2,833 to $2,833
30% of monthly median renter household income (~$1,500/mo, from a renter median of $59,998) · rents above this line are typically considered cost-burdened.
Measured: 48.6% of renter households already pay 30% or more of income on rent, and 23.5% pay 50% or more.
Key Takeaways
- In line with national: Home value to income ratio of 4.5x sits near the ~4.1x national average; affordability is neither a clear advantage nor a recruitment friction.
- Affordable rent tiers: 1 of 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom sizes sit below what a household on the median renter income of $59,998 can pay without cost burden (~$1,500/mo), and 48.6% of renter households are measured as cost-burdened.
Source: Census ACS housing tables + HUD Fair Market Rents.
Workforce Pipeline
Labor force readiness, commuting, and workforce composition
Labor Market Overview
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Tables B01001, B23001, B23025, B08303, B08301
111,891 up from the baseline named below
Working Age (18-64) vs 2019
Mean Commute 5 min below national avg
21.1 min
Work From Home vs 15.1% national
19.8%
Prime-Age Employed (25-54)
88.3%
of prime-age population
Prime-age rate numerator is civilian employed (B23001); the denominator is total population aged 25-54 (B01001), which also includes armed forces.
of population age 16 and over (144,675)
unchanged from 2019 vs 2019
Education & Talent Pipeline
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003 · College Scorecard
Bachelor's+
56.8% up from 2019 vs 2019
HS Diploma+
96.1% up from 2019 vs 2019
Institutions in Chittenden County
4 institutions in Chittenden County reporting credentials to College Scorecard
Credentials awarded in Chittenden County
5,443/yr
3,329/yr
1,515/yr
541/yr
58/yr
Aging Workforce
Source: Census Bureau ACS · Derived from age & employment tables
18.7%
55-64 of working-age population (18-64)
Same cohort is 12.3% of total population, the basis used in the Demographics cohort chart.
Workforce by Occupation
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table C24010 · Civilian employed population 16+
Management / Professional
53.1%
Service
15.2%
Sales & Office
18.1%
Construction / Maint.
6%
Production / Transport
7.6%
Bars are drawn on a 0% to 60% axis, so bar length is proportional to actual share. Labels give each group's share of 97,858 employed workers.
Key Takeaways
- Healthy participation: 70.2% labor force participation reflects a steady, available local workforce.
- Short commutes: 21.1-minute mean commute is a quality-of-life and labor-access advantage worth surfacing for site selectors.
- Talent pipeline: 4 institutions in Chittenden County award 5,443 credentials a year. Employers drawing from a wider labor shed should read this alongside institutions outside the county, which this page does not aggregate.
Source: ACS workforce data and College Scorecard.
AI Insights
Sample output. Pulse AI analysis draws on 9 federal data sources.
Sample AI Insight
Chittenden County shows meaningful potential for computer and electronic product manufacturing attraction, with a 4.15x concentration and 2,770 jobs in this sub-sector.
Most of the employment across the concentrated sub-sectors traces back to a single source of demand. Goods manufacturing accounts for 52.3% of it, with computer and electronic product manufacturing the largest single sub-sector at 38.9%. Recruitment that widens the demand base changes that exposure; recruitment inside the same base deepens it.
Industry Shift Analysis
Manufacturing Automation Risk
High
Healthcare Growth Forecast
+4.2% CAGR
Remote Work Migration
67/100
Prospect Match Scores
Advanced Manufacturing
92/100
Life Sciences
84/100
Data Centers
71/100
Illustrative example
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Data Sources
Updated from official federal government data.
Census ACS 5-Year2024
BLS QCEW2024 annual
BLS LAUS2025 annual
BEA Regional GDP2024
Census CBP2023
HUD Fair Market RentsFY2026
FCC Broadband Map2024
USAspending.govFY2026
College ScorecardAY 2022-23
American Community Survey figures on this page are 2020-2024 five-year averages rather than single-year counts. A five-year estimate pools 60 months of survey responses, so each value describes the period as a whole.
Frequently Asked Questions
Key economic and demographic figures for Chittenden County, Vermont, from federal data sources.
What is the population of Chittenden County, Vermont?
169,758 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates).
What is the median household income in Chittenden County, Vermont?
$96,759 in nominal dollars (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates).
What is the unemployment rate in Chittenden County, Vermont?
2.2% (2025 annual average, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, LAUS).
What is the GDP of Chittenden County, Vermont?
$16.4B (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, CAGDP2).
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