This article shows U.S. Census totals for Chittenden County, Vermont, broken down by municipality, from 1900 to 2010.
Most areas of New England are entirely divided into incorporated municipalities, with no unincorporated territory. In the three northern New England states, however, some unincorporated territory does exist, generally in areas that are very sparsely populated. Chittenden County contains a very small amount of unincorporated territory, one of four counties in Vermont to have such areas. The unincorporated territory in Chittenden County consists of a tract called Buel’s Gore, measuring about five square miles, in the southeastern corner of the county. The population of Buels’ Gore has reached double digits in only two censuses since 1920. Except for Buel’s Gore, Chittenden County is entirely incorporated.
There are three types of incorporated municipalities in Vermont: towns, cities and villages. As in the other New England states, towns are the basic unit of municipal government. Cities are independent of and equivalent to towns, but differ in their form of government. Villages overlay towns and assume responsibility for some municipal services within their boundaries. Incorporated villages are not found in any of the other New England states, and are less common in Vermont today than they have been in the past. A number of villages have disincorporated over the years, choosing to revert to full town control; most of those that remain are very small.
It is possible for a village to become a city, in which case it becomes a completely separate municipality from its original parent town. Many of Vermont’s current cities are former villages (unlike the other New England states where cities are almost invariably former towns).
The main tables below show municipalities at the town level, differentiating between towns and cities. For any census, adding up the totals for each town-level municipality (as well as Buel’s Gore) should yield the county total. A separate section follows with population totals for villages from 1930 to 2000.
For more information on the New England municipal system, see New England town.
1921 – Winooski, formerly an incorporated village within the town of Colchester, incorporated as a city and became a separate municipality from Colchester
1971 – South Burlington became a city
County Total: 39,600
Burlington (city) 18,640
Colchester 5,352
Essex 2,203
Milton 1,804
Jericho 1,373
Charlotte 1,254
Hinesburg 1,216
Shelburne 1,202
Williston 1,176
Underhill 1,140
Richmond 1,057
South Burlington 971
Westford 888
Huntington 728
Bolton 486
St. George 90
Unorganized territory (Buel’s Gore) reported 20 residents.
County Total: 42,447
Burlington (city) 20,468
Colchester 6,450
Essex 2,714
Milton 1,648
Richmond 1,419
Jericho 1,307
Charlotte 1,163
Shelburne 1,097
Hinesburg 1,042
Underhill 1,004
Williston 1,000
South Burlington 927
Westford 854
Huntington 760
Bolton 469
St. George 109
Unorganized territory (Buel’s Gore) reported 16 residents.
County Total: 43,708
Burlington (city) 22,779
Colchester 6,627
Essex 2,449
Milton 1,523
Richmond 1,447
Charlotte 1,160
Jericho 1,138
Shelburne 997
Hinesburg 964
South Burlington 938
Williston 929
Underhill 896
Westford 706
Huntington 651
Bolton 390
St. George 100
Unorganized territory (Buel’s Gore) reported 14 residents.
County Total: 47,471
Burlington (city) 24,789
Winooski (city) 5,308
Essex 2,876
Colchester 2,638
Milton 1,663
Richmond 1,315
South Burlington 1,203
Jericho 1,091
Charlotte 1,089
Hinesburg 1,019
Shelburne 1,006
Williston 961
Underhill 781
Westford 698
Huntington 621
Bolton 325
St. George 84
Unorganized territory (Buel’s Gore) reported 4 residents.
County Total: 52,098
Burlington (city) 27,686
Winooski (city) 6,036
Essex 3,059
Colchester 3,031
Milton 1,750
South Burlington 1,736
Richmond 1,225
Charlotte 1,082
Jericho 1,077
Williston 1,021
Shelburne 1,010
Hinesburg 1,000
Underhill 760
Westford 698
Huntington 549
Bolton 287
St. George 87
Unorganized territory (Buel’s Gore) reported 4 residents.
County Total: 62,570
Burlington (city) 33,155
Winooski (city) 6,734
Essex 3,931
Colchester 3,897
South Burlington 3,279
Milton 1,874
Shelburne 1,365
Richmond 1,278
Charlotte 1,215
Williston 1,182
Jericho 1,135
Hinesburg 1,120
Underhill 698
Westford 685
Huntington 601
Bolton 301
St. George 117
Unorganized territory (Buel’s Gore) reported 3 residents.
County Total: 74,425
Burlington (city) 35,531
Winooski (city) 7,420
Essex 7,090
South Burlington 6,903
Colchester 4,718
Milton 2,022
Shelburne 1,805
Williston 1,484
Jericho 1,425
Richmond 1,303
Charlotte 1,271
Hinesburg 1,180
Underhill 730
Westford 680
Huntington 518
Bolton 237
St. George 108
Unorganized territory (Buel’s Gore) reported no residents.
County Total: 99,131
Burlington (city) 38,633
Essex 10,951
South Burlington 10,032
Colchester 8,776
Winooski (city) 7,309
Milton 4,495
Shelburne 3,728
Williston 3,187
Jericho 2,343
Richmond 2,249
Charlotte 1,802
Hinesburg 1,775
Underhill 1,198
Westford 991
Huntington 748
St. George 477
Bolton 427
Unorganized territory (Buel’s Gore) reported 10 residents.
County Total: 115,534
Burlington (city) 37,712
Essex 14,392
Colchester 12,629
South Burlington (city) 10,679
Milton 6,829
Winooski (city) 6,318
Shelburne 5,000
Williston 3,843
Jericho 3,575
Richmond 3,159
Hinesburg 2,690
Charlotte 2,561
Underhill 2,172
Westford 1,413
Huntington 1,161
Bolton 715
St. George 677
Unorganized territory (Buel’s Gore) reported 9 residents.
County Total: 131,761
Burlington (city) 39,127
Essex 16,498
Colchester 14,731
South Burlington (city) 12,809
Milton 8,404
Winooski (city) 6,649
Shelburne 5,871
Williston 4,887
Jericho 4,302
Hinesburg 3,780
Richmond 3,729
Charlotte 3,148
Underhill 2,799
Westford 1,740
Huntington 1,609
Bolton 971
St. George 705
Unorganized territory (Buel’s Gore) reported 2 residents.
County Total: 146,571
Burlington (city) 39,824
Essex 18,626
Colchester 16,986
South Burlington (city) 14,879
Milton 9,479
Williston 7,650
Shelburne 6,944
Winooski (city) 6,561
Jericho 5,015
Hinesburg 4,340
Richmond 4,090
Charlotte 3,569
Underhill 2,980
Westford 2,086
Huntington 1,861
Bolton 971
St. George 698
Unorganized territory (Buel’s Gore) reported 12 residents.
County Total: 156,545
Burlington (city) 42,417
Essex 19,587
South Burlington (city) 17,904
Colchester 17,067
Milton 10,352
Williston 8,698
Winooski (city) 7,267
Shelburne 7,144
Jericho 5,009
Hinesburg 4,396
Richmond 4,081
Charlotte 3,754
Underhill 3,016
Westford 2,029
Huntington 1,938
Bolton 1,182
St. George 674
Unorganized territory (Buel’s Gore) reported 30 residents.
This section lists census totals for incorporated villages for 1930 through 2000.
As of 1930, Chittenden County contained three incorporated villages:
The village of Essex Junction (inc. 1893), within the town of Essex
The village of Milton (inc. 1902), within the town of the same name
The village of Richmond (inc. 1902), within the town of the same name
Over the next few decades, two additional villages were incorporated, bringing the total to five:
1933 – New village of Jericho incorporated, within the town of the same name
1947 – New village of Essex Center incorporated, within the town of Essex
Three of the villages have since disincorporated:
The village of Essex Center apparently disincorporated at some point in time, although sources conflict as to when this happened. One page of the Vermont state archives web site indicates that Essex Center disincorporated in 1947 (presumably later in the same year it was incorporated), while another page indicates that it disincorporated in 1977. It was never reported in the Census, which is consistent with the former date. However, there were at least two other villages in Vermont (as well as one borough in Connecticut) that were for some reason not reported separately from their parent towns in the 1950 and 1960 Censuses, and did not appear in the initial 1970 Census reports, either. It is not inconceivable that the latter date is correct and whatever resulted in those villages/boroughs not being reported also affected Essex Center.
The village of Richmond disincorporated in 1989
The village of Milton disincorporated in 2003
Note: Complete data for 1900, 1910 and 1920 are not available, but the population of the village of Winooski was 3,783 in 1900, 4,520 in 1910, and 4,932 in 1920 (by the time of the 1930 Census, Winooski had incorporated as a city). The population of the village of Jericho was not reported separately from the town of Jericho in the 1950 and 1960 Censuses; it is not clear why.
1930
Essex Junction 1,621
Richmond 718
Milton 641
1940
Essex Junction 1,901
Milton 729
Richmond 692
Jericho 254
1950
Essex Junction 2,741
Richmond 731
Milton 739
Jericho not reported
1960
Essex Junction 5,340
Milton 817
Richmond 765
Jericho not reported
1970
Essex Junction 6,511
Milton 1,164
Richmond 935
Jericho 749
1980
Essex Junction 7,033
Milton 1,411
Jericho 1,340
Richmond 865
1990
Essex Junction 8,396
Milton 1,578
Jericho 1,405
2000
Essex Junction 8,597
Milton 1,537
Jericho 1,457
