Autumn in New England visible. This change is most acute in sugar maple trees. This change in color starts in far Northern New England in northern Maine and the higher elevations of Vermont and New Hampshire in mid September, reaching central New England areas of southern Vermont, southern New Hampshire, and Massachusetts by early October. By mid October the color peak reaches northern Rhode Island and northern Connecticut. As one reaches southern Connecticut southward toward into New Jersey and points south, the number of sugar maple trees declines as the climate changes to a more temperate zone and oaks become more dominant, thus there
New England areas of production. Maine is ranked ninth for aquaculture, and has abundant potato fields in its northeast part. Vermont is fifteenth for dairy products, and Connecticut and Massachusetts seventh and eleventh for tobacco, respectively. Cranberries are grown in Massachusetts' Cape Cod-Plymouth-South Shore area, and blueberries in Maine. The region is mostly energy-efficient compared to the U.S. at large, with every state but Maine ranking within the ten most energy-efficient states; every state in New England also ranks within the ten most expensive states for electricity prices. As of January 2017, employment is stronger in New England than in the rest