Vermont

:This article is about the U.S. state. For other meanings, see Vermont (disambiguation).

Demographics

Population

The U.S. Census Bureau reports Vermont's 2000 population as 608,827, and estimates its 2004 population as 621,394.

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Race and Sex

Vermont's population is:

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• 96.2% White
• 0.9% Asian
• 0.9% Hispanic
• 0.5% Black
• 0.4% Native American
• 1.2% Mixed race

and:

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• 51.0% female
• 49.0% male

Rankings

Among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, Vermont ranks:

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• 2nd in its proportion of Whites
• 41st in its proportion of Asians
• 49th in its proportion of Hispanics
• 48th in its proportion of Blacks
• 29th in its proportion of Native Americans
• 39th in its proportion of people of mixed race
• 28th in its proportion of males
• 24th in its proportion of females

Ethnicity

The five largest ancestry groups are:

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• 18.4% English
• 16.4% Irish
• 14.5% French
• 9.1% German
• 8.8% French-Canadian

Residents of British ancestry (especially English) live throughout most of Vermont. The northern part of the state is inhabited principally by people of French (including French-Canadian and Quebecois) ancestry.

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Religion

Like many of the neighboring states, Vermont's largest religious affiliation in the colonial period was Congregationalism. In 1776, 63 percent of affiliated church members in Vermont were Congregationalists. At the time, however, most settlers were not church members, because much of the land was wilderness. Only 9 percent of people belonged to a church at the time. The Congregational United Church of Christ remains the largest Protestant denomination and Vermont has the largest percentage of this denomination of any state.

Related Topics:
Congregationalism - 1776

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Today about three-fourths of Vermont residents identify themselves as Christians. The largest single religious body in the state is the Roman Catholic Church. A Catholic Church survey in 1990 reported that 25% of Vermonters were members of the Catholic Church, although more than that self-identify as Catholics.

Related Topics:
Christians - Roman Catholic Church

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Overall, Vermont's current religious distribution is:

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• Christian – 74%
• Roman Catholic – 39%
• Protestant – 34%
• Congregational/United Church of Christ – 7%
• Methodist – 7%
• Episcopal – 5%
• Baptist – 3%
• Other Protestant – 12%
• Other Christian – 1%
• Jewish – 1%
• Other Religions – 1%
• Non-Religious – 24%

More than one-third of Vermonters are self-identified Protestants. The largest Protestant denomination in the state is the United Church of Christ, and the second largest is the United Methodist Church, followed by Episcopalians, and Baptists.

Related Topics:
Protestants - United Methodist Church - Episcopalians - Baptists

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Although Joseph Smith, Jr. and Brigham Young—the first two leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—were both born in Vermont, Mormons have never made up a large percentage of Vermont's population.

Related Topics:
Joseph Smith, Jr. - Brigham Young - Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

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Judaism and Unitarian Universalism claim around 1 percent of the state's population. The 2001 Shengold Jewish Encyclopedia reported that the state has 5,000 Jews—300 in Burlington and 500 each in Montpelier-Barre and Rutland—and four Reform and two Conservative congregations.

Related Topics:
Judaism - Unitarian Universalism - Jew - Reform - Conservative

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Other religions such as Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism have very few adherents.

Related Topics:
Islam - Hinduism - Buddhism

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