Escalators come in pairs—one down/one up. According to the National Elevator Industry (NEII) there are 17,500 pairs of escalators in the United States. But that organization does not break out statistics by state. I called various experts at elevator/escalator maintanance companies but was unable to get solid statistics for Vermont.
An article in The Atlantic by Megan Garber entitled “The State of Wyoming Has 2 Escalators,” (July 17, 2013) discovered that Wyoming has a total of only two escalators, both in Casper—one at the First National Bank, another at the Hilltop National Bank. There used to be a third escalator in the old JC Penney building in Cheyenne but the building (and its escalator) were demolished.
The article is available online at: http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/07/the-state-of-wyoming-has-2-escalators/277891/
A radio station in Montana counted six elevators in that state—all in malls or airports.
At first, I was able to count only two escalators in Vermont--for a tie with Wyoming as the states with the fewest escalators in the country.
The only two pairs of escalators I was able to find were at Vermont’s Burlington International Airport. There was a third escalator at the Burlington Town Center, which had an escalator just outside Macy’s, but the mall was demolished in late 2017. University Mall in South Burlington, Vermont’s largest Mall, might seem like a candidate for the list, but it does not have an escalator. It is only one story tall.
Then, in early 2019, I received an email from Trevor Houchens of South Burlington. He counted another two sets of escalators at the South Burlington Barnes and Nobles and the Williston Majestic 10 movie theater. That means Vermont has a total of only four escalators--not as few as Wyoming--but probably good enough for second place nationwide.