The Greater Burlington Young Professional Community Report

Vermont has an aging population. That’s no secret. So for the future vitality of our region, we need to attract and retain as many young professionals as possible. But how do we do that?

The Greater Burlington Young Professional Community Report is a direct effort from Burlington Young Professionals (BYP), a program of the Lake Champlain Chamber, to engage our young professional community to better understanding their needs, wants, perceptions and motivations. Why Vermont? Why Burlington area? What makes you want to stay? What makes you want to go?

This report aims to illustrate the professional, civic, and personal lenses through which young professionals perceive our community and provide insight into how their perceptions drive their decisions and actions.

As a leading voice for our community’s young professionals, BYP intends to use the results from this survey to provide better advocacy and programming for the YP demographic (20-something to 40-something) so they can have a more meaningful experience while living and working in our community. And hopefully stay.

In general, the results presented here tell a familiar story. Vermont’s YPs are in a tough spot – lower wages than metropolitan areas, high cost of living, tight housing, and inflation creeping in from all sides. And they aren’t afraid to tell us. And we’re not going to try to sugar coat it. There’s work to be done.

We’re also not going to ignore the many reasons YPs want to stay and build their lives here. For all of our regional challenges, nearly 70 percent of all respondents would recommend the area to a friend. And that’s a good thing.

We want to thank all of the 215+ individuals who shared their thoughts and input on their experience here in the greater Burlington region, as well as our generous community partners who helped make our survey a success — the Lake Champlain Chamber, Hotel Vermont, and Hello Burlington.

Questions or comments? Reach out to byp@vermont.org.