Historical U.S. Census totals for Chittenden County, Vermont
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.
Corporate changes since 1900
- 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
1900
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.
1910
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.
1920
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.
1930
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.
1940
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.
1950
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.
1960
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.
1970
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.
1980
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.
1990
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.
2000
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.
2010
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.
Villages
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
Notes
1970 Census
As had been the case with the 1950 and 1960 Censuses, the 1970 Census did not initially report the population for the village of Jericho separately from the town of Jericho. The inclusion of a total for the village of Jericho was a later revision. The village of Newbury, in Orange County, and the borough of Woodmont, Connecticut follow similar patterns.
2000 Census
The Census Bureau made a number of revisions to 2000 census totals subsequent to their initial release. The 2000 total for the city of Burlington was originally reported as 38,889; and for the city of South Burlington, 15,814. The totals were later revised to those shown in the list above. This was apparently done to correct an assignment error between the two municipalities; the collective population of the two is the same using either set of figures, so the county total was not affected.
See also
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