We present a volume-limited, spectroscopically verified sample of M7-L5 ultracool dwarfs (UCDs) within 25pc. The sample contains 410 sources, of which 93% have trigonometric distance measurements (80% from Gaia DR2) and 81% have low-resolution (R~120), near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy. We also present an additional list of 60 sources that may be M7-L5 dwarfs within 25pc when distance or spectral-type uncertainties are taken into account. The spectra provide NIR spectral and gravity classifications, and we use these to identify young sources, red and blue J-K_S_ color outliers, and spectral binaries. We measure very low gravity and intermediate-gravity fractions of 2.1_-0.8_^+0.9^ and 7.8_-1.5_^+1.7^, respectively; fractions of red and blue color outliers of 1.4_-0.5_^+0.6^ and 3.6_-0.9_^+1.0^, respectively; and a spectral binary fraction of 1.6_-0.5_^+0.5^. We present an updated luminosity function for M7-L5 dwarfs continuous across the hydrogen-burning limit that agrees with previous studies. We estimate our completeness to range between 69% and 80% when compared to an isotropic model. However, we find that the literature late-M sample is severely incomplete compared to L dwarfs, with completeness of 62_-7_^+8^ and 83_-9_^+10^, respectively. This incompleteness can be addressed with astrometric-based searches of UCDs with Gaia to identify objects previously missed by color- and magnitude-limited surveys.

Cone search capability for table J/ApJ/883/205/table3 (Bona fide and 1{sigma} samples of M7-L5 ultracool dwarfs in the 25pc volume)

Cone search capability for table J/ApJ/883/205/table7 (SpeX observing log)

Cone search capability for table J/ApJ/883/205/table10 (Spectral binary candidates with M7-L7 primary components)

Cone search capability for table J/ApJ/883/205/table11 (Ultracool binaries with M7-L5 primaries in the 25pc sample)