The 54 facts that make Vermont unique cluster into three repeating themes.
The three northern New England states—Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine—have a lot in common. What affects one tends to affect them all. In that sense, they stick together—not because of some formalized political arrangement, but because they tend to be buffeted by the same cross winds and pushed forward by the same tailwind.
Demographically, the three northern New England states are nearly identical. They are the three whitest states in the nation, with the three oldest populations. They have very few minorities, very little crime and infinitesimal murder rates.
Not only are their populations old but they are declining. Vermont is 49th of 50 and Maine is 48th in population growth.
These are also conservative places, not necessarily politically conservative but in the way you live your life, even though, at the same time, Northern New England is among the least religious places in the nation.
They also have the same weather, with severe winters that foster a community spirit necessary to survive.
Lastly, the New England states in general, and the northern New England states in particular, tend to be the healthiest, family friendly with very rates of sexually transmitted diseases.
Another theme that appears over and over in the data is the stark contrast between Vermont (and Northern New England as a whole) and the states of the Deep South. It is as though Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine were pitted against Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama in some sort of ongoing (and lopsided) sporting contest.
Consider high school graduation rates, for example, where 93 percent of Vermonters finish high school, while in Mississippi and Louisiana less than 70 percent do so.
Which is probably related to crime statistics. While New England has the lowest crime rates in the nation, the south has the highest.
New Hampshire has the lowest murder rate in the nation followed by Vermont. Louisiana, in contrast, has the highest murder rate in the nation—more than ten times that of New Hampshire (accounting for population size)—followed by Mississippi.
Northern New England is also the least religious section of country while the south is the most religious. Only 17 percent of Vermonters are religious followed by New Hampshire and Maine at 20 percent each. Contrast that with Mississippi where 47 percent of residents are religious and Louisiana and Alabama where 46 are religious.
New England also tends to be the healthiest part of the country—Vermont ranks 2nd while Massachusetts and New Hampshire rank 3rd and 5th. Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas, in contrast rank 50th, 49th and 48th.
And more of those healthier “oldsters” in Northern New England tend to keep working longer than anyplace else. Residents of Mississippi and Alabama, in contrast, drop out of the workforce earlier than anyplace else.
Even items like access to banks breaks out on that split. Again, residents of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine have easy access to banks while Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia do not.
Tourism is the number one industry in Vermont—and it is almost all outdoors tourism. Not many tourists come to Vermont to see plays and hear symphonies.
States whose economies are highly dependent on tourism—especially natural beauty tourism—tend to be concerned with similar issues.
A ban on outdoor billboards is in effect in Hawaii, Alaska and Maine (as well as Vermont).
Bottle bills are the law in Hawaii and Oregon (as well as Vermont).
These are the kind of issues—litter and visual pollution—that are emphasized more in tourist economies rather than business/manufacturing economies.
Related to this is the promotion and popularity of the outdoors/alternative lifestyle by certain states. This might be called the Vermont-Colorado-Oregon “cluster.” These states are big on outdoor activities but attract a large number of what we used to call "hippies" or hippie-wannabes.
All three states are among the most physically active and have the highest fitness levels. But they also report among the highest levels of pot smoking.