Local timeMontpelier ·
U.S. States / Northeast · Card 045
Vermont flag

Vermont

The Green Mountain State

Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park in Woodstock preserves a managed forest and the history of conservation.

Red brick mansion in distance with green lawn and trees in foreground
Marsh - Billings - RockefellerPhoto source: National Park Service

Vermont and its surroundings

MAMENHNYMontpelierN ↑
● State capital · Gold highlights Vermont.
Map: Natural Earth. Neighboring states use postal abbreviations.

At a glance

Capital
Montpelier
Postal abbreviation
VT
Population
644,663July 1, 2025 · Census estimate
Total area
24,906 km²9,616 square miles · land and water
Statehood
March 4, 1791State number 14
Region
Northeast

Sources: Census · population · Census · area

State symbols & traditions

Geography & flag

01

Location

Neighboring states: Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York.

02

Landscape & places

Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park in Woodstock preserves a managed forest and the history of conservation. It shows how people can study and manage a working landscape over generations, rather than treating conservation as the absence of all human activity.

03

Land and water

The total area includes 23,871 km² of land and 1,035 km² of water, according to Census area measurements.

Vermont flag

State flag

The state coat of arms on a blue field, showing a pine tree, a cow and sheaves of grain.

Sources: Census · geographic reference · Census · area measurements · National Park Service · Marsh - Billings - Rockefeller

How the landscape works

A managed forest is a landscape shaped by repeated decisions about trees, access, and long-term use. Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller connects conservation history with that continuing work. Conservation can involve active management and learning over generations, not only excluding people. The visible forest records both natural growth and human choices.

History

How a land dispute delayed Vermont’s admission

Both New Hampshire and New York claimed authority over land that became Vermont. Settlers who held New Hampshire grants resisted New York’s competing claims, so the dispute affected people’s homes and property as well as colonial boundaries.

Vermont declared its own government in 1777 and adopted a constitution, but New York’s claim complicated admission to the United States. After the dispute was settled, Vermont entered the Union in 1791 as the first state added after the original thirteen. Its period of separate government explains why its history does not follow the usual territorial path.

Read more: Historical source ↗

Why this mattered

Vermont’s history involved competing land claims and a dispute with New York. It operated separately before joining the Union in 1791 after resolving the dispute. A present-day boundary can make statehood look straightforward, but earlier residents faced overlapping claims to authority. Settling those claims was part of establishing the state.

Key dates

  1. Independent government declared

  2. First state admitted after the original thirteen

  3. Statehood · State number 14

Sources: Congressional Research Service · statehood · U.S. Census Bureau · historical geography · National Park Service

People and place

Indigenous history and communities today

The Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs provides information about the state’s contemporary Native affairs framework. State recognition and federal recognition are different processes and should not be treated as interchangeable labels.

Continue with Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs. This is one starting point, not a complete account of the peoples connected to this land.

Compare

Vermont and Massachusetts

Measure Vermont Massachusetts
Population (2025) 644,663 7,154,084
Land area (km²) 23,871 20,202
People per km² of land 27.0 354.1

Massachusetts has more people per square kilometer of land. Population density divides population by land area. It is an average across the whole jurisdiction, not a claim that residents are evenly spread out.

Calculated from the Census population series and land-area measurements used on these pages. Rounded figures; water area is excluded. Explore Massachusetts.

Economy

Main activities

In 2025, real estate and rental and leasing was the largest of the broad industry groups compared here by current-dollar output. Other major groups included educational services, health care, and social assistance, government and government enterprises, and professional and business services.

Total economic output was $48.4 billion in current dollars in 2025.

Largest industry groups · 2025

  • Real estate and rental and leasing: 13.6%
  • Educational services, health care, and social assistance: 13.2%
  • Government and government enterprises: 13.1%
  • Professional and business services: 12.2%

Share of total current-dollar GDP. These figures measure output, not employment.

Sources: BEA · annual GDP by state, SAGDP2

Production, jobs and wages answer different questions

The industry chart measures the value of production. It does not count workers. An industry with a large share of GDP need not employ the most people or pay the highest wages. Employment and wage data would be needed to answer those questions.

Population & economic trends

Population, 2020–2025

Thousands of people
644.662025 · thousands of people
0375750202020212022202320242025

July 1 resident population estimates, using the Census Bureau’s Vintage 2025 series.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau

View data table
Population: source values
Year People
2020 642,965
2021 647,238
2022 647,614
2023 647,722
2024 646,521
2025 644,663

Real GDP, 2010–2025

Billions of chained 2017 dollars
36.912025 · billions of chained 2017 dollars
022.5452010201520202025

Real GDP measures economic output adjusted for inflation. The chart uses BEA’s chained 2017 dollars.

Sources: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis

View data table
Real GDP: source values
Year Millions of chained 2017 dollars
2010 30,890.6
2011 31,663.6
2012 31,898.1
2013 31,494.6
2014 31,847.7
2015 32,042.9
2016 32,312.7
2017 32,589.2
2018 32,827.8
2019 33,339.4
2020 32,408.7
2021 33,584.3
2022 34,915.9
2023 35,499.4
2024 36,398.9
2025 36,908.2

Read the trend, then ask what explains it

Vermont’s population increased by about 0.3% between 2020 and 2025 in this series. That shows the size of the change. The chart alone cannot tell us how much came from births, deaths or migration.

Real GDP adjusts for changes in prices, so it helps compare production over time. Current-dollar GDP includes price changes. Neither measure tells us how income is distributed among residents.

Representation

Electoral votes
32024 & 2028 elections
Voting U.S. House seats
12020 Census allocation
U.S. Senate seats
2

Electoral votes equal the state’s U.S. House seats plus its two U.S. Senate seats. These allocations apply to the 2024 and 2028 presidential elections. The state elects one U.S. representative at large, serving the whole state.

Sources: National Archives · 2024 and 2028 electoral votes

Practice

Test your knowledge

Use the explanations and data on this page to answer ten questions. Hints and links to the relevant sections are available throughout.

10 questions about Vermont

Show a hint

Revisit the relevant section

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Want to practice recognizing states? Try the mixed-state map quiz.

Sources & notes

Narrative and quiz updated 5 October 2026. Statistical data prepared 27 September 2026. Population: Census Bureau Vintage 2025, July 1 estimates for 2020–2025. Real GDP: BEA annual state accounts, SAGDP9, millions of chained 2017 dollars; industry shares: SAGDP2, current dollars. Data downloaded 27 September 2026. Area measurements include land and water.

Sources: Census · population estimates · BEA · state GDP · Census · area measurements · Natural Earth · map data

The capital clock shows current local time. Statistical figures are dated estimates and may be revised.

MAMENHNYMontpelierN ↑

Updated 29 October 2026. Statistics retain the dated series shown in the charts; these are not live figures. Sources are linked beside each topic.