The U.S. state of Vermont is divided into 247 municipalities, including 237 towns and 10 cities. Vermont also has nine unincorporated areas, split between five unincorporated towns and four gores. As of 2024, Vermont has 30 incorporated villages, which are municipal governments operating within a town and providing additional services.

Definitions and further information

Cities in Vermont are municipalities with the city form of government. Vermont has ten cities with a combined area of 80.2 sqmi, or 0.8% of the state's total area. According to the 2020 census, 119,299 people, or 18.54% of the state's population, resided in Vermont's cities (excluding Essex Junction, which incorporated in 2022). Six of Vermont's 14 counties have at least one city within their borders. Five cities serve as the county seats for their respective counties and are indicated below with an asterisk (*****). Towns in Vermont are municipalities that typically incorporate the town meeting format into their government In some cases, a town and city have the same name, such as Barre City which is almost entirely surrounded by the separate municipality of Barre Town.

List of municipalities

Unincorporated areas

Unincorporated towns in Vermont are towns that had their charters revoked by the Vermont legislature or never formally organized due to lack of residents. Towns in name only, their affairs are managed by a state-appointed supervisor and not by a local government. Gores in Vermont are seen as an unincorporated area of a county that is not part of any town, has limited self-government, and may be unpopulated. Vermont has four current gores.

Villages

In the U.S. state of Vermont, villages are named communities located within the boundaries of a town. Villages may be incorporated or unincorporated. An incorporated village is a defined area within a town that was either granted a village charter by a special act of the legislature, or organized under the general legislation. A village which has been incorporated is a clearly defined municipality and provides a variety of municipal services, such as potable water, sewage, police and fire services, garbage collection, street lighting and maintenance, management of cemeteries, and building code enforcement. Other municipal services not provided by the village are provided by the parent town. Incorporated villages in Vermont are administratively similar to villages in New York. Vermont is the only state in New England that has incorporated villages. As of 2024, there are 30 incorporated villages with active governments in Vermont. Historically, there were more but most have since disincorporated, while others were chartered as cities. Below is a list of incorporated villages that have existed, ordered by date of incorporation. Extant villages are bolded.

Citations

General and cited references