Chittenden County, Vermont

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 619 square miles (1,600 km²), of which 537 square miles (1,390 km²) is land and 83 square miles (210 km²) (13%) is water. It is the third-smallest county in Vermont by area.

Originally, Chittenden County contained parts of other counties. It included all of today's Franklin, Grand Isle, and Lamoille counties, and parts of today's Orleans, Washington, and Addison counties.

The town of Underhill in Chitenden County is home to the highest summit within the state, Mount Mansfield, which has a peak elevation of 4,393 feet (1,339 m) above sea level.

Adjacent counties

Demographics

2014 U.S. Census Estimates

In 2014, there were 160,531 people, and 67,271 households. There were 67,271 households of which 36.23% had children under age 18 living with them, 52.9% were married couples living together, 7.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.70% were non-families. 24.31% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.72% had someone living alone who was age 65 or older. Average household size was 2.67 and average family size was 3.13.

In 2014, the county was 91.7% White, 2.4% Black or African American, 0.3% Native American and Alaska Native, 3.5% Asian, 0.01% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, 2.1% Two or more races, and 2.8% Asian. Hispanic or Latino of any race made up 2.2% of the population.

In the county, age distribution was as follows: 18.7% under the age of 18, 15.23% from 18 to 24, 32.05% from 25 to 44, 20.82% from 45 to 64, and 13.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 94.06 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.30 males.

In 2007, census department estimates that Chittenden had the youngest average age in the state, 37.5. This compares with the actual census in 2000 of 34.2 years.

In 2008, about 29% of the population lives alone. 59% of households consist of families. 38% of men and 35% of women, age 15 or older, have never married. 6% of the population were born in a foreign country, 8% of residents speak a language other than English at home.

From 2000 to 2008, residents left Chittenden in high numbers for places outside Vermont. Still, population increased slightly, in part due to immigration from foreign countries.

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 156,545 people, 61,827 households, and 36,582 families residing in the county. The population density was 291.7 inhabitants per square mile (112.6/km²). There were 65,722 housing units at an average density of 122.5 per square mile (47.3/km²).

Of the 61,827 households, 28.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.4% were married couples living together, 9.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 40.8% were non-families, and 27.7% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.92. The median age was 36.2 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $59,878 and the median income for a family was $78,283. Males had a median income of $49,991 versus $39,213 for females. The per capita income for the county was $31,095. About 6.6% of families and 10.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.8% of those under age 18 and 6.8% of those age 65 or over.

Government

As in all Vermont counties, there is a small executive function which is mostly consolidated at the state level. There is a County Sheriff and Chittenden County Sheriff's Department. The elected Sheriff is Democrat Kevin McLaughlin. Remaining county government is judicial. There are no "county taxes."

In 2007, median property taxes in the county were $3,809, placing it 265 out of 1,817 counties in the nation with populations over 20,000. It stood first in Vermont.

Judicial

The elected state's attorney is Democrat T.J. Donovan. In 2008, he said that "Alcohol is involved in most of our cases."

Personal income

According to the US Census, the median household income for the years 2007 and 2011 was $62,260. The per capita income for the same period was $32,533.

As of the 2010 US Census, the median income for a household in the county was $63,989, and the median income for a family was $59,460. Males had a median income of $38,541 versus $27,853 for females. The per capita income for the county was $33,281. About 4.90% of families and 8.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.00% of those under age 18 and 8.20% of those age 65 or over.

Industry

Essex Junction is home to GlobalFoundries' Burlington Design Center and 200 mm wafer fabrication plant. GlobalFoundries is the state of Vermont's largest private employer, with approximately 3,000 employees.

Burton Snowboards employs 500 people with a payroll of $28 million in 2008.

Retailing

One measure of economic activity is retail sales. In 2007, Chittenden led the state with 29% of sales, as measured by sales tax reports. This amounted to US$1.52 billion. Four local cities stood among the top five areas in the state: 1- Williston, 2-South Burlington, 4-Colchester, and 5-Burlington.

Real estate

In 2008, a vacancy rate for office space reached 11%, and was called "historic."

Education

There are several school districts within the county, including Burlington, Winooski and Chittenden East. Teachers salaries in 2007–8 varied from lows of $33,000 to $38,000 annually. Top salaries ranged from $66,000 to $79,000. Teachers pay from 10–20% of their health premiums with many contracts at 12%.

Higher education

Chittenden County is home to the University of Vermont and Champlain College, which are located in the city of Burlington. Saint Michael's College and a campus of Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (Vermont's first pharmacy school) are in the town of Colchester. A branch of the Community College of Vermont is located in Winooski and a satellite campus of Vermont Technical College is in Williston.

Personal health and safety

In the first national survey by Robert Wood Johnson and the University of Wisconsin in 2010, Vermont ranked the highest in the country for health outcomes. The top county in Vermont was Chittenden.

Infrastructure

Consistent with the rest of New England and other counties in the state of Vermont, the county has little formal county government. There are a few agencies that serve county-wide. One is the Chittenden County Solid Waste District.

Solid waste

In 2008, the Solid Waste District announced that it would charge trash haulers $17/ton for recyclables. Formerly it was paying $7/ton. The global economy has reduced the demand for recycled materials.

Roads

Interstate 89 crosses Chittenden County initially from east to west, then makes a northward turn in South Burlington to run north along the Lake Champlain shoreline. The full trajectory is generally from southeast to northwest. There are seven interchanges within the county. Four of the interchanges provide direct access to U.S. Route 2, which parallels the interstate throughout most of the county. U.S. Route 7, the county's main north-south surface route, is also directly accessible from two interchanges.

The Chittenden County Metropolitan Planning Organization measures traffic, analyzes road conditions, and allocates federal and state funds accordingly.

Athletics

There is a private, amateur Champlain Valley Swim League with nine members, mostly from Chittenden.

Cities

Villages

Census-designated places

Unincorporated communities

In Vermont, gores and grants are unincorporated portions of a county which are not part of any town and have limited self-government (if any, as many are uninhabited).