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For me, the relatively low population density is a major attraction, and not a negative.

I was born and raised in VT, lived in Maine for a few years, traveled the country for a year, and moved back to VT to get back to elderly family and start one of my own. The low population and relatively undeveloped landscape are big factors in why I came back, and the people of VT, on the whole, treat the landscape with a bit more respect than maybe the average American would. Don't expect many creature comforts; you won't find any huge shopping malls, department stores, or fast food places, and you need to be able to weather some very harsh climate (not just nasty cold in the winters, but flooding and/or humidity in summer as well). For these reasons, among others, Vermont has a vivid and colorful personality that you won't find in other states. Everywhere else I've been across the US feels more crowded, dirty, and "used". The wealth demographics are also pretty unique: a very large proportion of our citizens are upper-middle-class, which is why our state is usually known as "weirdly rich", which I would actually correct to "weirdly wealthy". There are very few rich people and there are a good number of low-income families as well. Unfortunately, since the pandemic, many people from urban areas have moved to VT or bought homes here and it is causing a huge slew of issues, primarily in the housing and real-estate markets, all while slowly degrading that "charm" we all love. I also believe development is not encouraged the same way you would see in our neighboring states, mostly to preserve the land and wildlife. New Hampshire and Maine to a pretty good job of this as well. We are a quirky little state for sure: there are some super progressive (bordering on communist) politics, but we also have a huge amount of freedom with our firearms and the Governor is Republican. You find a ton of hippies and you find a ton of rednecks. It is a great place to hide a doomsday shelter or an equally great place to start a homestead. I absolutely love it here! Advice for the city-slickers that move here or visit during the winter: snow tires are not a suggestion, they are a REQUIREMENT. Stop crashing into shit...

I am a Vermonter who lives in the Lebanon region as you called it. We call it the Upper Valley. You missed Act 250 as a major reason that Vermont is still not very populated. It is a state law passed in 1970 to preserve Vermont’s character and community by restricting development in the state. Permits can be denied for anything over 10 acres in a rural area and over 1 acre in a town that has no zoning rules.

Fun fact: Vermont got its name from the green mountains that it has, and that name literally translates to "Green Mountain" in French (Vert = Green ; Mont = Mountain).

You should do a video on why Vermont is so rich but yet West Virginia is so poor when both have the same mountainous terrain and geographic challenges

Born in VT, lived here almost 67 years and love it here. Have worked both here in VT and nearby in MA for the past 50+ years, and if you have any abilities to do anything constructive, or are trained in almost any kind of trade, there's lots of work and business to be had. It's a great place to live, and not far (where we live) from some larger cities in NY and MA. I like it just the way it is.

I thought Vermont was a figment of Bob's imagination. Dick Louden, the Stratford Inn, and Vermont are all just part of a dream.

I am more than happy to keep the state small. part of its beauty

I grew up in Vermont in a town just north of Burlington. On the one hand, you grow up very much in tune with nature and the seasons and the entire state has a small town feel where people are friendly and are happy to visit, borrow, and barter with their neighbors. We made apple cider and maple syrup from our trees and traded for pork and beef from neighbors with hobby farms. On the other hand, it really can feel very remote to those who visit from the major population centers who expect the same creature comforts. Do NOT expect to find a Starbucks anywhere outside of Burlington. There is only ONE Target store in the whole state, which only opened about five years ago. Most fast food chains are not in Vermont. A lot of trends in culture and technology are slow to be adopted (good luck finding an Uber or Lyft anywhere outside of Burlington!). So for those who want a break from modern society, Vermont is a paradise!

I've spent months of my time driving up from Maryland to Vermont to snowboard. I love it there. old school feel and quiet and peaceful. Every time I Pass the Bennington monument headed towards Dover up the mountain passes like Suddenly everyone is gone, and you feel a sense of emptiness as soon as you cross the border. Killington, Stowe, Sugarbush, and Jay Peak are my favs.

Fun fact: There are more ski resorts than McDonald’s locations in Vermont!

A little bit misleading. If you included everything from the Adirondacks to the White Mountains, it's all pretty much empty. Vermont just happens to sit in the middle of that area. In fact Burlington is basically the metro center of that whole region.

What you didn’t mention was Vermont’s quarries, which provided the marble for many of Washington DC’s monuments. Skilled Italian craftsmen fashioned the stone, while the Irish built the railways to haul it to its destination. Consequently we have Celtic music and great Italian food.😉

Fun Fact: The Ethan Allen "Express": is an Amtrak line that goes from NYC, now to Burlington, VT.

Empty is good. Who needs a big population?!

Growing up in the 1960s we had a cabin in Newark. We would go there every few weeks and spent much of the summers there. I 91 was being built and every year it got longer. We lived in CT. My sister lived there starting in 2000. She told me that out of state people have inflated the cost of housing so high that any of the kids graduating from school know they will never afford a home there and leave. A canal connects Lake Champlain to the Hudson River.

Forgot to mention that Vermont has some of the highest personal income taxes in the country for a small state. It is not a business friendly state and not many people want to retire in Vermont.

Vermont is a highly taxed state. The budget of the state government is roughly the same as that of New Hampshire, but with half of the people, making the burden nearly twice as high as its neighbor.

Green mountain state isnt just a nickname, its litteraly its name, vert meant green and mont means mountain in french

As a Vermonter, I can tell you why so few people live in the state. The simple asnwer is that we maintain a healthy distance between people. It costs a little more, but it works. A lovely place, with 10,000 trees for each of us.

What a ridiculous question. I’ve skied in Vermont a few times. It is beautiful with a lot of natural resources , but just like Maine, New Hampshire, Minnesota, it is COLD. I met someone from Minnesota with a tee shirt saying Minnesota 40 below keeps the rift raft out.

I went to school in Vermont and spent a few summers there. Winters are brutal but the summers are amazing!

I spent many summers attending and later working for a camp in Vermont. The terrain doesn't really lend itself to large cities, and frankly I'm just as happy they haven't tried to shoehorn anything in there. Also notable is that Vermont heavily limits commercial signs, often opposes big box stores with zoning rules, and generally zealously guards its rural and "quaint" character. Something worth mentioning in Vermont's more modern history is the "back to the land" movement of the 1970's, which led to a large influx of city-born hippies, and some conflicts between them and the "real Vermonters" from previous generations of mostly farming families. Some things to come out of that are Ben & Jerry's ice cream, and the prominent senator Bernie Sanders.

Fun fact: Not only are we the #1 producer of maple syrup in the country, we are #1 when it comes to taste and flavor. All other states and countries that produce maple syrup don't even come close to ours (sorry NH, NY, ME and Canada😢). Fun fact: In VT, maple syrup has its own food group😋😋 #ilovemaplesyrup

The images of Vermont in most Americans' minds is that of autumn and early winter picturesque scenery found on calendars.

I just visited Vermont for the first time last week. Truly beautiful. Came back with maple syrup and cheese ;-)

I spent this past winter season in Burlington, VT to try to see if I'd actually want to relocate there as a resident. It was a nice quirky little town and Vermont as a state is gorgeous no doubt. The reality of sparse housing with an expensive cost was settling in and its no joke. They've had a housing issue for some years now and especially in Burlington which is a college town mostly. Decided not to seek permanent residency there due to these reasons. It's nice to be so close to Montreal though as I went a few times. Definitely love the community and hippie vibe VT offers though.

Because Vermont missed out on the Industrial Revolution and has rocky terrain not ideal for large-scale agriculture, the economy really had to focus on small-scale farming and manufacturing out of necessity. Several decades later, craft industries became the trendy alternative to large-scale industrial products that used too many chemicals, cut corners on quality, and took advantage of workers. So Vermont was primed for companies that focused on quality craft goods like Ben and Jerry's, Cabot Creamery, Darn Tough Socks, Green Mountain Coffee, Seventh Generation, etc. to take off and "Made in Vermont" became a tagline that symbolized socially responsible business and high-quality products.

Why So Few Americans Live In Vermont. It's getting too expensive to live here. And we're being taxed to death!!

I’m 35, born and raised in north west VT. This state is beautiful, but the cost of living and taxes force many out. VT legislature is more concerned about collecting tax revenue than sustaining the population.

Thanks for the background....I often wondered why Vermont is so lightly populated. Let's keep it that way! Send everybody to the sunbelt! Love how beautiful Vermont is!!!

I met a young woman in Los Angeles who was from Vermont. She told me that Vermont is a beautiful, wonderful place to grow up all the way to the end of college. But after that and you're now an adult responsible for yourself. It's time to leave Vermont for the big urban cities to find a job career which is very difficult to do in Vermont.

When you highlighted the Winooski River, you actually highlighted the Lamoille River. The Winooski is further south and runs parallel to i89 for much of its length.

As a Vermonter, I can say this is a great historical overview but falls *very* short of modern day dynamics driving the state's nearly stagnant population.

11:21 fun fact: locals call it “Leb-a-nin” unlike the country, Lebanon

From the comments I totally see why Vermont is not highly populated and is backward. The people dont want everything "chain". They want down-home. They want tiny community, and mom 'n pop places. To be original, unique, small and not commercial, crowded, and criminalized. That's a breath of fresh air!

Never been to Vermont but it seems like a beautiful quaint little corner of America to visit.

Moved there from the southwest US in the mid 2000s for a job and lived there for 10 years. Still live nearby in NH/MA. Love VT. People in VT were very friendly and welcoming of this flatlander. 😆

Because there’s little economic reason. Just like every other of these videos. It’s all economics. No major harbors, no navigable rivers, heavily mountainous terrain makes development difficult. It’s the West Virginia of New England. People only move there to retire or to get away from Boston or NY. It has a really high cost of living despite its population and most of its population lives on the border with NY, specifically along the lake.

I’m from Maine but I have family in Vermont. Once a year (with the obvious exception of the Covid years), we would visit that family. Vermont is a really nice state.

It’s butt-cold up there, for what, 7 months of the year? Lots of folks want to live in a warmer climate.

Vermont has fewer people than Alaska

The name Vermont is a combination of two French words vert and mont meaning green mountain.

Vermont sounds like heaven.

I grew up in New York and now live in Maine, yet I have never been to Vermont. It's not on the way to anything. I-95 misses it, and I-87 doesn't have a good way to get there without taking a ferry across Lake Champlain. You really have to want to go there.

The story of the merino sheep in Vermont is really interesting. People started raising sheep, so a lot of the small farms were consolidated into larger farms. When people out west (with a whole lot more land) were able to sell their wool at lower prices, the economy collapsed and a lot of people moved from Vermont to the midwest or into Boston to work in the factories.

I’ve noticed that nobody can make a video about the New England region without using the word “nestled.”

Give it to Canada and it would be populated with Canadians Overnight.

Manchester, Nashua (and Lowell, MA) were KEY manufacturing areas back then: By 1912, the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company in Manchester, New Hampshire was the largest textile manufacturing company in the ENTIRE world. It had 15,000 employees and 40 mills. It produced almost 500 miles of cloth per day.

My dad lived in Vermont for 20 years starting in the early 90s he lived in a town called Barton this particular town was about 15 miles from the Canadian border closest major town was a guess Newport I absolutely loved going up there to visit the state is so clean and beautiful with nice people

Act 250 is a law that keeps the state beautiful, but makes it very difficult to build anything. Any new commercial structure must go through extensive review and approval to ensure it does not interfere with the state's natural beauty. But it's part of why starting a business or building a residential development takes a long time, which stalls growth and inflates housing prices. The other reason is local opposition to new development. So many homes are old farm houses, and local residents make a big deal over any type of new construction, complaining that a four-story building will cast a shadow over their town or a row of townhomes will destroy the local character. So nothing gets built and homeowners must pay higher taxes per person to keep up with maintaining aging buildings and infrastructure.

Vermont is an underrated state. I visited Stowe a while back and it was a cool place

You are missing 2 key parts of the story of the populating of VT, my home state. We were on par or more advanced then most in the early part of the industrial revolution but then in the 1830's came the "famine years" with killing frost and snow in every month of the year. An exodus began and many farmers and inventers, like john deere, moved to the midwest for dire need to survive. One generation later Vermont sent thousands of their best and brightest, never to return, to fight a war to end slavery that we here had abolished peacefully decades before. VT lost more soldiers per cappita then any other state involved in the conflict known as the civil war. Through these times and on through WW 1 we out produced all New england combined in copper used both for war and domestic efforts, and out produced in marble slate and granite, literaly the building blocks of our nations capitol and, perhaps in bitter irony,the headstones of Arlington cemetary were so many vermonters lay . The floods of 1927 and 1932, back to back "100 year" flood events left VT in a condition close to as desperate as the earliest settler days. A look at census data shows that the populations of most Vermont towns {90%} have been declining since the early 1800's. Only in the 21st century are the numbers starting to grow as we exist within an above average cost of living and a below average mean income. We enjoy, for now, significantly warmer winters that threaten our maple syrup and ski industries, and we tolerate more severe weather and flood events that threaten our agricultural and infrastuctural sustainability. Also at this time the uptick in certain population and average income is added by and large by people who exist independently from the VT economy and it is hard to say if this trend is really part of the next chapter of history or just a blip on the radar. Thanks for considering these facts as part of your understanding of our little state.

Nice state, being from NYC area, very popular for sking and in the summer too. Being now in New Hampshire, double the VT population a lot due to the southern part of the state being near to the Boston area. 😊

One less person now, I got out a few weeks ago, living in beautiful and affordable South Dakota now

Hi from Burlington Vermont!!!

Funny enough, I used to live in Vermont. It’s a lovely place, and it’s very rural. The big population center is Burlington, which isn’t a particularly big city, and most of the state lives in small towns and hamlets.

Shhhh..... Don't tell everyone. I'm planning on moving up there soon

I am from New Hampshire. I love Vermont, but New Hampshire has all of the same and more. We have no sales nor income tax, a tiny coastline to the ocean, bigger mointains... we don't have a Lake Champlain but Winnipesaukee/Lakes Region is also gorgeous. There are a lot of great things about Vermont, but there is a reason NH has double the population. In the end, most people don't want to live in either state.

Taxation is terrible and the state tries to survive on services and not longer offers many export products. Born and raised there. Cant afford to retire there.

I was actually looking into moving to Vermont and needed more info as to why so few people live here. Thanks for posting Geoff!

The only reason that Vermont isn’t a national park is the Champlain Canal. It was finished in 1823, linking the lake with the Hudson River. With the ability to ship goods cheaply in and out of the Champlain Valley there was a population boom. By the 1870s Burlington was one of the biggest lumber ports in the world, transferring lumber that came down the Richelieu River from Canada. Still, anywhere farther than a days wagon ride from the lake was the backwoods. The population of Vermont was static in the mid 300,000 range from about 1850 to 1950. The mountains also inhibited the construction of railroads. There were lines up the Champlain Valley and the Connecticut River Valley, but nothing East/west south of the Winooski River. Access was as much a problem as land quality.

I've heard about half of Vermont's population moved there in the last 50 years

I’m currently remodeling a 50 room hotel on Bromley Mountain in Manchester,Vermont

Florida Man here. I live in Brevard County. 10 miles wide, 72 miles tall. We have more people than all of Vermont. I'm starting to like Vermont alot right now.

Vermont is New Hampshire without adequate roads. That is the only difference and when it gets FRIGID, you might prefer a straighter, wider road.

I grew up in Bennington and we always liked it that way.

That Thumbnail indicated that Vermont has the same population size close to Wyoming. Also the crazy part is that the entire populations of both Vermont and Wyoming can fit inside San Jose, California.

Lets not forget, alot of Vermonters move to other states, because it's pretty expensive to live there. After 10 or 20 years of the brutal winters, people move to warmer states.

I’ve been living in Rhode Island for the last 31 years. Traveling through Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, I found myself experiencing quite a bit amount of bigotry, hatred and even the attitude of why are you even here vibe from some of its residence that feels more like being in most southern states. Although things have definitely changed over the years in the southern states, where there seems to be a more free like friendly atmosphere now, where people tend to approach you more in conversation than years ago back in the 80’s. Vermont is a beautiful state and Lake Champlain is a wonderful sight. I generally do the road trip by riding the motorcycle around into New York and back down for the 3 days trip.

Really interesting. I didn't anticipate the direction of the rivers as one of the factors.

They want to keep it that way.

Taxes are so high here now so we are moving our family have been in Vermont for couple hundred + years and were leaving Vermont sucks now

You have great geography videos! I am a substitute teacher in Ridgewood, NJ. I have noticed keen interest in geography, especially among some of the Asian boys! During snack break, some of the boys assemble around the world globe and challenge each other about finding different countries. When I teach them geography, they are fascinated about Vermont but especially Maine! They are shocked that Maine was part of Massachusetts until 1820, when it became a state. Even today, the residents of Maine in the south are so different than the Maine residents in the northern part of the state. Some of the Maine residents call people in southern Maine “Massholes”!

Vermont + Maine + W. Virginia = broke off from existing states (technically)

Green mountain/vermont = vert/green - mount/ mountain. as well, Pls note your depiction of where the appalachians are is incorrect in northern nys. They don't exist there. They are the adirondacks, a totally different, and much older mountain range. the catskills, greens, whites, berkshires are all part of the Appalachians,,,not the adirondacks

Vermont had a very productive copper and granite mining. Go to the Rock of Ages in Barre, VT. Looking down in a deep granite quarry is like looking of the top of the Empire State Building in NYC.

A goegeous state. I have many fond memories of skiing in Vermont in my youth. I spent a week in the early 90s driving through the state and staying at B&Bs. People were friendly and so much beauty.

Vermont is associated with Boston, not New York.

Well your history of the state is a little baked. New Hampshire until only in the last 30 years had less than 800,000 people. It's the sprawl of the Boston suburbs and the Exodus from Massachusetts that has boosted the population of New Hampshire and the direct line of 93 to the Great lake. In the 19th century however There were railroads that connected Connecticut valley and the Hudson valley. The population of Vermont New Hampshire and Maine rurally shrunk considerably as the Northwest Territories and the far west in territories opened especially post civil war. There was a constant drain to the west or down valleys to City Life. Life on a New England farm is tough, Winter is cold the soil sucks and if you can make money in the city working a factory job it's a lot easier then and now.. as I said this is a story all across Northern New England not just Vermont. If you included the region of New Hampshire above Concord and Maine 20 miles inland from the coast you would find the same situation. For that matter New York state as well

I've long wondered this! Thanks, Geoff! :)

well presented - thx

Vermont in many many ways seems like a lost Canadian province akin to New Brunswick in both population and ethno-religious make up... Not to mention politically. Vermont seems like the only place really fully aligned with the Canadian vision of the world... I.e. progressive, high taxes on the wealthy, eco-conscious... But also the fact it's entirely dependent on Hydro-Quebec to keep the lights on once it switched off its own nuclear power plant, which even as a Canadian, seems nutty!

Vermont is small. Much of the topography is mountainous or hilly, forming a barrier to the Atlantic coast. It has no coast line; at least New Hampshire has something. It has no major rivers and the lake that separates it from New York drains into a river in another country. It is not near a US major city like southern New Hampshire is near Boston; Montreal is in another country, another language. It is cold. It is not a low tax State, unlike New Hampshire, and it probably does not have a lot of high-paying jobs, unlike Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. Not sure why New York is part of this comparison, unless you eliminate New York City and at least the counties north of it, Westchester and Rockland; even upstate New York has the Hudson River, the Erie Canal and Great Lakes coastline (e.g. Oswego, Rochester, Buffalo). I am sure that Vermont has a sizable native population, proud people whose families have been there for generations, but the Vermont I know is intermittently populated by wealthy New Yorkers and maybe other Atlantic coasters who have second homes there either for skiing in the winter or for escaping the heat in the summer or both, and in either case they bring their wealth with them.

“Let’s ask Wally with the weather, Wally?” Wally; “ITS F***ING COLD”

As an 8th generation Vermonter, personally I could do with a few less people.

The entire northeast is to expensive to live in.

As someone who grew up in Southern Alberta but now lives on the west coast, I get why not that many people want to deal with cold, snowy winters. If a state doesn’t have enough industry to justify a huge population draw, the population just never really develops. The only reason places like Edmonton in Canada can have over 1 million people is the oil money. I guess Vermont reminds me a bit of the more rural parts of Ontario and Quebec.

Champlain Canal made the Queen City, Burlington, VT an industrial center. The video says that shipping was only north, this isn’t accurate when you factor the canal shipping in.

I wonder if the new Amtrak extension through Vermont will aid its development. it'd be even cooler if it extended to Montreal. We need to connect more with Quebec

Lebanon, NH is pronounced Leba-nin. You can always tell who isn’t from here because they pronounce it Leba-nahn. And yes Lebanon’s “suburbs” go into Vermont. Lebanon, NH and White River Junction, VT truly are twin towns. Neat video!

Mistake on the climate facts. There are two seasons in Vermont- Winter and tough sledding.

When I was young in the late 60's, 70's and early 80's, our family visited Vermont every summer 🌞. My late uncle had a cottage on Ticklenaked Pond in Ryegate, VT off of I-91 (located in east-central VT, near the NH border). We would visit downtown Wells River, VT and Woodsville, NH, right on the border. Miss visiting there. 🙁

So love Vermont; I was born there and lived many years of my life there. Moved away from VT 15 years ago. Vermont is an expensive place to live. The real estate prices for land or houses, apartment and home rental prices, property taxes, school taxes, income taxes, and the tax on Social Security are so high. As for jobs, in the late 1980’s a change began to be seen with the manufacturing plants once located there. Decades ago, small towns used to have small manufacturing plants, such as Milton Bradley in Milton, Chemical Fabrics in North Bennington, etc. With the state’s increase of taxes on manufacturing plants and the cost of electricity, businesses could no longer afford to exist in Vermont. The majority of the manufacturing plants either closed, moved to southern states, or out of the country. Vermont still has the tourists, but it is not what it used to be. From the borders with MA and NY, up through to downtown Manchester, so many of the once busy tourist attractions and stores are now closed. There also used to be numerous small hydroelectric plants scattered all over Vermont. Am not sure that I know of any that still exist, which once was an inexpensive and renewable source for electricity. There was a partial change to a nuclear power plant decades ago, but I think that nuclear plant closed awhile ago. The cost of electricity for everyone in VT is so expensive. This tidbit may be decades old now, but the about 1/2 of the inhabitants of Vermont were not born in Vermont. Influx of people who could afford to live there. VT will always be in my heart, and remains a beautiful and lovely place to visit.

I almost went to school at the University of Vermont.

Vermont and New Hampshire look a lot like a flipped mirrored image of each other.. Almost like a Ying Yang

I hope it does always remain thinly populated. We need it's beauty to never be ruined by development. All of America recognizes Vermont as one of its natural Wonders.

Being a former New Englander, (Connecticut), I am very familiar with Vermont. I used to love going to Vermont for weekend camping trips. I always dreamed of living there. What kept me away was the employment situation. Not many good-paying jobs to go around. Now that I am retired and can afford to live in Vermont, the snow and ice and cold weather keep me from moving there. (I live in Florida now). So in a nutshell, poor salaries and cold weather keep people from living in a beautiful and picturesque place like Vermont.

Fun fact: We don't want more people 😊