Burlington vs South Burlington

A side-by-side comparison of Burlington and South Burlington: population, income, housing, and more.

Burlington and South Burlington are places in Vermont. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Burlington has the higher population (44,649 vs 20,488 in South Burlington). South Burlington has the higher median household income ($97,229 vs $68,854 in Burlington). Burlington has the higher median home value ($400,200 vs $399,600 in South Burlington).

Population, income & housing

	Burlington	South Burlington
Population	44,649	20,488
Median age	26.7 yrs	38.8 yrs
Median household income	$68,854	$97,229
Median home value	$400,200	$399,600
Median gross rent	$1,609	$1,755
Housing units	18,339	9,587
Homeownership rate	39.8%	60.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher	60.5%	65.1%
Unemployment rate	4.6%	5.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Burlington	South Burlington
Population	42,545 → 44,649 (+4.9%)	19,162 → 20,488 (+6.9%)
Median household income	$51,394 → $68,854 (+34.0%)	$73,065 → $97,229 (+33.1%)
Median home value	$284,500 → $400,200 (+40.7%)	$307,500 → $399,600 (+30.0%)
Median gross rent	$1,213 → $1,609 (+32.6%)	$1,401 → $1,755 (+25.3%)

Burlington

Population

42,54544,649

Median household income

$51,394$68,854

Median home value

$284,500$400,200

Median gross rent

$1,213$1,609

South Burlington

Population

19,16220,488

Median household income

$73,065$97,229

Median home value

$307,500$399,600

Median gross rent

$1,401$1,755

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Burlington	South Burlington
Under 5	3.1%	4.6%
5 to 17	7.9%	13.7%
18 to 24	35.5%	9.2%
25 to 34	16.8%	15.4%
35 to 44	9.2%	15.2%
45 to 54	7.1%	11.9%
55 to 64	8.4%	12.5%
65 to 74	7.5%	9.2%
75 and over	4.6%	8.2%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Burlington	South Burlington
White (non-Hispanic)	84.5%	80.9%
Black or African American	3.6%	1.6%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.4%
Asian	3.7%	8.7%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.1%
Some other race	0.2%	0.4%
Two or more races	4.6%	4.5%
Hispanic or Latino	3.3%	3.5%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Burlington	South Burlington
No high school diploma	5.6%	1.7%
High school graduate	15.8%	13.9%
Some college or associate's	18.1%	19.4%
Bachelor's degree	33.0%	37.5%
Graduate or professional degree	27.5%	27.6%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Burlington	South Burlington
Drove alone	47.3%	71.4%
Carpooled	8.5%	6.5%
Public transit	5.3%	1.6%
Walked	16.2%	1.4%
Bicycle	5.2%	2.0%
Worked from home	16.7%	16.3%
Other means	0.8%	0.7%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Burlington	South Burlington
1-unit, detached	33.2%	40.1%
1-unit, attached	6.5%	18.0%
2 to 4 units	25.9%	10.1%
5 to 19 units	21.3%	8.5%
20 or more units	11.8%	23.3%
Mobile home & other	1.2%	0.0%

Poverty & households

	Burlington	South Burlington
Poverty rate	23.0%	8.1%
Average household size	2.07	2.16
Mean commute (minutes)	19	19
Median year structure built	1957	1988