Burlington, Vermont

Area Profile

44,675 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Burlington, in Chittenden County.

69out of 100
Area Score
Top 18% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 15 sources
OpportunityTop 46% of 4,199 cities measured58
GrowthTop 17% of 4,224 cities measured69
Housing affordability2,811th of 4,218 cities measured59
Climate3,812th of 4,225 cities measured58
Physical resilienceTop 8% of 4,226 cities measured93
Access2,877th of 4,226 cities measured87
Economic stabilityTop 31% of 4,226 cities measured67
The quick read

Unemployment is 2.7% and median household income $71,109, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured.

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 569 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, against 6 the year before.

Rent takes 33% of renter income here, above the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 3.8 times what its owners earn.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
44,675
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$71,109
Top 44% nationally
Density
4,336/sq mi
10.3 sq mi of land
Median age
26.8
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Vermont
Nearest major airport
PBG
16 mi · Plattsburgh Intl
Median home value
$444,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 2.7%, lower than in 98% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment fell 2.3% over the past year, to 23,947 employed residents.

60% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 93% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsChittenden County, VT’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$73,65852nd percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftChittenden County, VT’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$75,17557th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$4,1932024 ACS 5-Year$71,109Top 44%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,1782024 ACS 5-Year$40,192Top 32%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year10.7%Top 50%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.0 min2024 ACS 5-Year19.8 minTop 17%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year60.5%Top 7%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year45.6%5th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202623,947Bottom 29%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−5.6%Bottom 3%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−2.3%Bottom 16%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202624,61228th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year85.5%Top 22%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageBurlington-South Burlington, VT Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$74,360Top 30%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageBurlington-South Burlington, VT Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$60,020Top 20%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year5.3%96th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.4%Top 32%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20262.7%Top 2%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year19.0%84th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/073.21.3
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 2.7% in July 2026. It has been rising for the last 2 months, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202471k59k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $71,109 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — Burlington-South Burlington, VT

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Retail Salespersons3,550$37,330
Registered Nurses3,150$98,330
General and Operations Managers2,930$98,430
Fast Food and Counter Workers2,770$37,190
Cashiers2,590$36,880
Stockers and Order Fillers2,230$37,780

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

There are 11.6 students for every full-time teacher across 9 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
10
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
11.6
across 9 of them
Math proficiency
—
Reading proficiency
—
All 10 public schools on record, largest first. None of them has a proficiency figure in the federal file.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacher
Burlington High SchoolBurlington School District92112.1
Champlain SchoolBurlington School District55922.4
Edmunds Middle SchoolBurlington School District3569.6
Lyman C. Hunt Middle SchoolBurlington School District3228.9
J. J. Flynn SchoolBurlington School District2929.4
Edmunds Elementary SchoolBurlington School District27911.2
C. P. Smith SchoolBurlington School District25512.8
Sustainability Academy at Lawrence BarnesBurlington School District21311.2
Integrated Arts Academy at H. O. WheelerBurlington School District2018.0
Burlington Technical CenterBurlington School District0—

54.8% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Vermont’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 1% above the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 100.8, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Burlington-South Burlington, VT Metro Area is up 49% over five years, and up 0.8% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $7,335 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.65% of the median home value.

The typical renter household here spends 33% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,649 a month.

A median home at $444,800 costs 3.8 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $117,628, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
100.8

Prices here run about 1% above the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Burlington-South Burlington, VT Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
32.7%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.8×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Median gross rent
$1,649
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$444,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Burlington’s median household income of $71,109, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Burlington-South Burlington, VT Metro Area’s figure2023100.8Top 46%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Burlington-South Burlington, VT Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+0.8%15th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Burlington-South Burlington, VT Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+48.9%76th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Burlington-South Burlington, VT Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+88.8%44th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.52024 ACS 5-Year3.8Bottom 20%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year41.5%5th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±5752024 ACS 5-Year18,07997th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$532024 ACS 5-Year$1,649Bottom 16%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$19,3572024 ACS 5-Year$444,80086th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$3542024 ACS 5-Year$7,33597th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$14,4502024 ACS 5-Year$117,628Top 17%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.11%2024 ACS 5-Year1.65%84th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year32.7%Bottom 28%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1422024 ACS 5-Year18193rd percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.0%62nd percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year2.2%22nd percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2282024 ACS 5-Year57591st percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

69/ 100
Top 17% of 4,224 published city profiles
Permitting has been rising for the last 2 years of a series running from 2022 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has fallen 1% since 2020, to 44,432 in 2024.

90% of the 569 units permitted over the past twelve months are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

Federal tax returns show Chittenden County, which contains Burlington, lost about 0.4% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $73,658, close to the $75,175 of households that moved out.

At 12.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
569
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
12.7
Top 7% nationally
Year over year
+9383%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
90.3%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202445k44k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been falling for the last 2 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.4%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
72%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$73,658
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$75,175
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Franklin County, VT 483 people · 7.1% of arrivals
  2. Washington County, VT 361 people · 5.3% of arrivals
  3. Addison County, VT 299 people · 4.4% of arrivals
  4. Middlesex County, MA 203 people · 3.0% of arrivals
  5. Lamoille County, VT 165 people · 2.4% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Franklin County, VT 766 people · 11% of departures
  2. Washington County, VT 393 people · 5.4% of departures
  3. Addison County, VT 353 people · 4.8% of departures
  4. Lamoille County, VT 192 people · 2.6% of departures
  5. Grand Isle County, VT 157 people · 2.2% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. This is the figure for Chittenden County, VT. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

202220232024202556021
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+409%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 82°F and January a low of 13°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 37.5 inches, including 87.5 inches of snow.

Air quality measures a median index of 37, in the Good band, and no day in the year passed 100.

0°20°40°60°80°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station BURLINGTON INTL AP, 4.7 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.3"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year512024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals37.5"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals87.5"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals13°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals82°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year02024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year372024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals52°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
37
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
51
90th percentile index
Days above 100
0
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

93 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, earthquake and heat wave, with inland flooding alone responsible for 72% of it. Inland flooding is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 92% of measured US cities.

Winter weatherModerate
LightningModerate
Ice stormModerate
EarthquakeElevated
LandslideModerate
Heat waveElevated
HurricaneModerate
Cold waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: avalanche, inland flooding, strong wind, tornado, wildfire, hail, drought, volcanic activity, tsunami, coastal flooding.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Violent crime
482
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
4,103
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Burlington's police department reported 482 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, higher than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 4,103.

Chittenden County has a modeled homicide rate of about 1.7 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 9.4 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 19.5 per 100,000 residents in Chittenden County.

Homicide
1.7
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
9.4
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
19.5
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
17.1
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Burlington’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around Burlington (Chittenden County) rather than Burlington itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

School results
Too few schools here reported proficiency for a figure to be weighted honestly. AreaProfile requires at least two reporting schools and 200 enrolled students behind a place-level rate, because below that a single small school decides the number.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest Plattsburgh Intl at 16 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year91.6%Top 42%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle16 miTop 45%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle1Bottom 1%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year3.3%Top 26%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Plattsburgh IntlPBG16 mi11,759 ft
Albany IntlALB124 mi8,500 ft
Griffiss IntlRME139 mi11,820 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
69
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—

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Other cities in Burlington-South Burlington, VT

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
South BurlingtonChittenden County20,75668South Burlington vs Burlington
Essex JunctionChittenden County10,80365Essex Junction vs Burlington

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Burlington side by side with a similar place.

Burlington vs WellesleyBurlington vs Ann Arbor

Moving to Burlington from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2024-25 school year
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

ZIP codes in Burlington

2 ZIP areas

Every ZIP area in Burlington with census figures of its own, largest first.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
0540131,662$65,657$492,10067
0540810,019$95,018$400,60071