Essex County vs Orleans County

A side-by-side comparison of Essex County and Orleans County: population, income, housing, and more.

Essex County and Orleans County are counties in Vermont. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Orleans County has the higher population (27,492 vs 5,972 in Essex County). Orleans County has the higher median household income ($66,426 vs $58,985 in Essex County). Orleans County has the higher median home value ($213,300 vs $167,500 in Essex County).

Population, income & housing

	Essex County	Orleans County
Population	5,972	27,492
Median age	51.4 yrs	45.4 yrs
Median household income	$58,985	$66,426
Median home value	$167,500	$213,300
Median gross rent	$915	$897
Housing units	4,914	16,630
Homeownership rate	83.2%	79.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher	21.2%	28.6%
Unemployment rate	5.6%	5.2%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Essex County	Orleans County
Population	6,200 → 5,972 (-3.7%)	26,901 → 27,492 (+2.2%)
Median household income	$44,349 → $58,985 (+33.0%)	$49,168 → $66,426 (+35.1%)
Median home value	$136,600 → $167,500 (+22.6%)	$162,000 → $213,300 (+31.7%)
Median gross rent	$731 → $915 (+25.2%)	$796 → $897 (+12.7%)

Essex County

Population

6,2005,972

Median household income

$44,349$58,985

Median home value

$136,600$167,500

Median gross rent

$731$915

Orleans County

Population

26,90127,492

Median household income

$49,168$66,426

Median home value

$162,000$213,300

Median gross rent

$796$897

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Essex County	Orleans County
Under 5	4.2%	4.7%
5 to 17	13.0%	14.7%
18 to 24	6.6%	7.1%
25 to 34	8.8%	11.2%
35 to 44	9.7%	11.6%
45 to 54	13.7%	12.4%
55 to 64	17.4%	14.8%
65 to 74	15.9%	14.2%
75 and over	10.8%	9.1%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Essex County	Orleans County
White (non-Hispanic)	93.5%	93.3%
Black or African American	0.1%	0.8%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.6%	0.3%
Asian	1.0%	0.6%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.1%
Two or more races	3.4%	3.0%
Hispanic or Latino	1.5%	1.8%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Essex County	Orleans County
No high school diploma	11.5%	8.1%
High school graduate	40.5%	37.6%
Some college or associate's	26.8%	25.7%
Bachelor's degree	12.6%	17.6%
Graduate or professional degree	8.5%	11.0%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Essex County	Orleans County
Drove alone	79.9%	75.8%
Carpooled	7.4%	8.3%
Public transit	0.0%	0.1%
Walked	3.2%	3.7%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.6%
Worked from home	8.4%	10.9%
Other means	1.2%	0.6%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Essex County	Orleans County
1-unit, detached	83.1%	77.4%
1-unit, attached	0.4%	1.4%
2 to 4 units	4.3%	9.3%
5 to 19 units	1.9%	3.5%
20 or more units	0.5%	0.7%
Mobile home & other	9.8%	7.7%

Poverty & households

	Essex County	Orleans County
Poverty rate	14.3%	10.8%
Average household size	2.18	2.26
Mean commute (minutes)	28	27
Median year structure built	1973	1977