170,851 people (2024 Census estimate, +1.4% since 2020)
537 square miles of land · 318 people per square mile
“Highest” and “lowest” are just order, not grades: a high rank for poverty or hazard losses means more of it. Each figure's source is in its section below.
48 active community water systems list Chittenden County in the area they serve, reporting 143,704 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| BURLINGTON DEPT PUBLIC WORKS WATER DIV surface water · local government · VT0005053 | 42,000 served |
| SOUTH BURLINGTON CITY WATER SYSTEM buys surface water · local government · VT0005091 | 19,500 served |
| COLCHESTER WATER SYSTEM buys surface water · local government · VT0021810 | 11,299 served |
| ESSEX TOWN WATER SYSTEM buys surface water · local government · VT0005065 | 9,734 served |
| ESSEX JCT WATER DEPT buys surface water · local government · VT0005066 | 9,500 served |
| WINOOSKI WATER DEPT buys surface water · local government · VT0005102 | 8,500 served |
| COLCHESTER FIRE DISTRICT 2 buys surface water · local government · VT0005059 | 8,300 served |
| MILTON WATER DEPT buys surface water · local government · VT0005079 | 8,260 served |
Source: U.S. EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), active community systems, . Look up any system's violations and test results with EPA's search using its ID.
No county jail figure in the national data for Chittenden County — not gathered, never hidden. Some counties share a regional jail or have none.
8 school districts have their office in Chittenden County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $110.9 million — $100.9 million to run schools, about $23,815 per student, plus $6.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2 million local (mostly property tax), $99.1 million state, $5.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $34.2 million.
Spent $116.9 million — $111.8 million to run schools, about $29,857 per student, plus $729,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $7.9 million local (mostly property tax), $97.1 million state, $8.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $3.1 million.
Spent $126.5 million — $106.5 million to run schools, about $30,429 per student, plus $16.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $4.2 million local (mostly property tax), $98.4 million state, $13.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $41.2 million.
Spent $71.9 million — $66.4 million to run schools, about $24,495 per student, plus $4.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $5 million local (mostly property tax), $61 million state, $3 million federal. Long-term debt: $6.8 million.
Spent $62.3 million — $59.1 million to run schools, about $22,539 per student, plus $1.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $959,000 local (mostly property tax), $58.5 million state, $2.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $4.7 million.
Spent $60.1 million — $57.1 million to run schools, about $23,487 per student, plus $2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $2.8 million local (mostly property tax), $49.8 million state, $3.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $3.5 million.
Spent $40.4 million — $38.9 million to run schools, about $26,304 per student, plus $229,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $483,000 local (mostly property tax), $36.4 million state, $2.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $3.3 million.
Spent $39.4 million — $28 million to run schools, about $34,866 per student, plus $10 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.3 million local (mostly property tax), $23.6 million state, $5.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $2.8 million.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Survey of School System Finances. Districts are listed by the county of their main office; some serve neighboring counties too.
Source: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025 (University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute), which gathers federal data (CDC, Census, and others); measures cover different recent years. Blank lines aren't reported for small counties.
Overall risk: Relatively Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Chittenden County about $40.1 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Very Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
184 bridges in Chittenden County: 90 in good condition, 90 fair, and 4 poor (2.2%). “Poor” means a main part — the deck, the beams, or the supports — is rated 4 or lower on the federal 0–9 scale. It doesn't mean unsafe to drive; unsafe bridges are closed.
| US 00002 ML over I 89 UNDER US 2 · built 1964 | 17,800 vehicles a day |
| TR 05 FAS 212 over HOLLOW BROOK · built 1940 | 1,600 vehicles a day |
| C2009 over LAPLATTE RIVER · built 1939 | 200 vehicles a day |
| C3008 over LAPLATTE RIVER · built 1995 | 10 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $219.3 million of work in Chittenden County in fiscal 2025, about $1,303 per resident — to the county, cities, schools, hospitals, nonprofits and others.
Source: USAspending.gov, grants by place of performance, fiscal 2025 (Oct. 2024 to Sept. 2025). Search it by county to see each award.
From Grants.gov: posted grants listing county governments as eligible, soonest deadline first; research-only and overseas programs left out; list updated 2026-10-13, refreshed weekly. 62 are open in all. Cities, towns, school districts and nonprofits have their own lists there.
Registration deadlines, early voting and polling places for Vermont are on the federal site vote.gov, which links to the state's official election office.
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Chittenden County come from the county's own records, which we haven't gathered — not gathered, never hidden. See what a full county site looks like, or ask to have Chittenden County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Vermont: the state government and every county in Vermont.
Nearby counties: Lamoille County (24 mi) · Grand Isle County (26 mi) · Washington County (26 mi) · Franklin County (28 mi) · Addison County (30 mi) · Clinton County, NY (37 mi).