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New Haven County, Connecticut facts for kids

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New Haven County
County of New Haven
The New Haven Green Historic District
Map of Connecticut highlighting New Haven County
Location within the U.S. state of Connecticut
Map of the United States highlighting Connecticut
Connecticut's location within the U.S.
Country  United States
State  Connecticut
Founded 1666
Seat none (since 1960)
New Haven (before 1960)
Largest city New Haven (population)
Guilford (area)
Area
 • Total 862 sq mi (2,230 km2)
 • Land 605 sq mi (1,570 km2)
 • Water 258 sq mi (670 km2)  29.9%%
Population
 (2020)
 • Total 864,835
 • Density 1,429.5/sq mi (551.9/km2)
Time zone UTC−5 (Eastern)
 • Summer (DST) UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional districts 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th


New Haven County is a county in the south central part of the U.S. state of Connecticut. As of the 2020 census, the population was 864,835, making it the third-most populous county in Connecticut. Two of the state's largest cities, New Haven (3rd) and Waterbury (5th), are part of New Haven County.

New Haven County is part of the New Haven-Milford, CT Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the New York metropolitan Combined Statistical Area.

County governments were abolished in Connecticut in 1960. Thus, as is the case with all eight of Connecticut's counties, there is no county government, and no county seat. Until 1960, the city of New Haven was the county seat. In Connecticut, towns are responsible for all local government activities, including fire and rescue, snow removal and schools. In some cases, neighboring towns will share certain activities, e.g. schools, health, etc. New Haven County is merely a group of towns on a map, and has no specific government authority. The county Sheriff system was abolished by voters and replaced by State Judicial Marshals in 2000. As a result, the state judicial system in New Haven County has three judicial districts: New Haven, Ansonia-Milford, and Waterbury.

History

Following the process of unification of New Haven Colony with Connecticut Colony in 1664-65, cohesion could be improved. New Haven County was constituted by an act of the Connecticut General Court on May 10, 1666, along with Hartford County, Fairfield County, and New London County. The act establishing the county states:

This Court orders that from the east bounds of Guilford
vnto ye west bounds of Milford shalbe for future one County
wch shalbe called the County of N: Hauen. And it is
ordered that the County Court shalbe held at N: Hauen on
the second Wednesday in March and on the second Wednesday
in Nouember yearely.

As established in 1666, New Haven County consisted of the towns of Milford, New Haven, and Guilford. The town of Wallingford was established in 1670 in unincorporated area north of New Haven and formally added to New Haven County in 1671. In 1675, the town of Derby was established north of Milford. In 1686, the town of Waterbury was established, but was assigned as part of Hartford County. Waterbury was transferred to New Haven County in 1728. In 1722, most of northwestern Connecticut (except for the town of Litchfield) was placed under the jurisdiction of New Haven County. Eight years later, in 1730, the eastern half of northwestern Connecticut was transferred to the jurisdiction of Hartford County. By mid-1738, with the exception of the towns of New Milford, Sharon, and Salisbury, the entire territory of northwestern Connecticut was under Hartford County. In 1751, Litchfield County was constituted consisting of all the towns in northwestern Connecticut. Between 1780 and 1807, several more towns were established along the northern boundary of New Haven County, resulting in the alteration of the limits of the county. The final boundary alteration leading to the modern boundary resulted from the establishment of the town of Middlebury on October 8, 1807.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 862 square miles (2,230 km2), of which 605 square miles (1,570 km2) is land and 258 square miles (670 km2) (29.9%) is water. It is the second-largest county in Connecticut by total area.

Features

The terrain is mostly flat near the coast, with low hills defining the rest of the area, rising significantly only in the north of the county. The highest elevation is close to the northernmost point in the county, found at two areas of approximately 1,050 feet (320 m) above sea level in the town of Wolcott. The lowest point is sea level.

Notable geographic landmarks include Mount Carmel ("Sleeping Giant"), West Rock and East Rock.

Adjacent counties

New Haven county is bounded on the south by Long Island Sound.

National protected area

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop.
1790 30,703
1800 32,162 4.8%
1810 37,064 15.2%
1820 39,616 6.9%
1830 43,847 10.7%
1840 48,619 10.9%
1850 65,588 34.9%
1860 97,345 48.4%
1870 121,257 24.6%
1880 156,523 29.1%
1890 209,058 33.6%
1900 269,163 28.8%
1910 337,282 25.3%
1920 415,214 23.1%
1930 463,449 11.6%
1940 484,316 4.5%
1950 545,784 12.7%
1960 660,315 21.0%
1970 744,948 12.8%
1980 761,337 2.2%
1990 804,219 5.6%
2000 824,008 2.5%
2010 862,477 4.7%
2020 864,835 0.3%
U.S. Decennial Census
1790-1960 1900-1990
1990-2000 2010-2020

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 862,477 people, 334,502 households, and 215,749 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,426.7 inhabitants per square mile (550.9/km2). There were 362,004 housing units at an average density of 598.8 per square mile (231.2/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 74.8% white, 12.7% black or African American, 3.5% Asian, 0.3% American Indian, 6.0% from other races, and 2.6% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 15.0% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 24.0% were Italian, 17.5% were Irish, 9.3% were German, 8.5% were English, 7.6% were Polish, and 2.0% were American.

Of the 334,502 households, 31.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.5% were married couples living together, 14.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 35.5% were non-families, and 28.9% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 3.09. The median age was 39.3 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $61,114 and the median income for a family was $77,379. Males had a median income of $56,697 versus $43,941 for females. The per capita income for the county was $31,720. About 7.9% of families and 10.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.7% of those under age 18 and 7.1% of those age 65 or over.

Demographic breakdown by town

The following income data is from the 2010 United States Census and the 2006-2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates:

Rank Town Per capita
income
Median
household
income
Median
family
income
Population Number of
households
1 Woodbridge Town $73,020 $127,237 $145,321 8,990 3,336
2 Guilford Town $52,070 $98,411 $116,250 22,375 8,715
3 Madison Town $52,002 $108,175 $125,199 18,269 6,971
4 Bethany Town $47,241 $113,720 $121,701 5,563 1,971
5 Orange Town $44,983 $102,255 $115,685 13,956 5,123
6 Middlebury Town $44,850 $100,866 $109,750 7,575 2,748
7 Woodmont Borough $43,149 $71,667 $99,423 1,488 691
8 Oxford Town $41,909 $107,500 $113,077 12,683 4,504
9 Branford Town $41,540 $70,640 $86,696 28,026 12,739
10 Cheshire Town $40,498 $107,936 $123,539 29,261 10,041
11 Prospect Town $40,126 $86,526 $99,028 9,405 3,357
12 Southbury Town $40,022 $68,041 $104,838 19,904 8,213
13 Milford City $38,489 $76,973 $92,684 52,759 21,708
14 North Haven Town $38,286 $83,588 $94,916 24,093 9,135
15 North Branford Town $36,297 $80,618 $92,083 14,407 5,441
16 Hamden Town $34,596 $66,695 $88,613 60,960 23,727
17 Wallingford Town $33,839 $71,317 $87,641 45,135 18,032
18 Wolcott Town $33,572 $78,882 $90,061 16,680 6,007
19 Beacon Falls Town $32,710 $81,214 $93,056 6,049 2,360
20 Seymour Town $32,346 $71,719 $92,981 16,540 6,654
21 East Haven Town $28,638 $59,918 $69,837 29,257 11,756
22 Naugatuck Borough $27,933 $59,393 $71,021 31,862 12,339
23 Meriden City $27,625 $53,873 $65,450 60,868 23,977
24 Derby City $26,264 $52,029 $58,984 12,902 5,388
25 Ansonia City $26,225 $56,541 $71,329 19,249 7,510
26 West Haven City $25,884 $51,854 $62,330 55,564 21,112
27 New Haven City $21,789 $38,963 $47,432 129,779 48,877
28 Waterbury City $21,545 $40,254 $47,077 110,366 42,761

Metropolitan Statistical Area

The United States Office of Management and Budget has designated New Haven County as the New Haven-Milford, CT Metropolitan Statistical Area. The United States Census Bureau ranked the New Haven-Milford, CT Metropolitan Statistical Area as the 62nd most populous metropolitan statistical area of the United States as of July 1, 2012.

The Office of Management and Budget has further designated the New Haven-Milford, CT Metropolitan Statistical Area as a component of the more extensive New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined Statistical Area, the most populous combined statistical area and primary statistical area of the United States as of July 1, 2012.

Communities

Map of New Haven County Connecticut With Municipal Labels
Map of New Haven County, Connecticut showing cities, boroughs, towns, and CDPs

Cities

Towns

Villages are named localities within towns but have no separate corporate existence from the towns they are in.

Education

Education in the county area is usually provided by the individual town governments. Several less populated towns have joined together to form regional school districts. Bethany, Orange, and Woodbridge are part of Region 5; Middlebury and Southbury are part of Region 15; and Beacon Falls and Prospect are part of Region 16.

New Haven county serves as a center of advanced learning, with several noted educational institutions located within its borders centered on the city of New Haven. These include:

Transportation

Major Roads

Boston Post Road

U.S. 1 is the oldest east–west route in the county, running through all of its shoreline cities and towns. Known by various names along its length, most commonly "Boston Post Road" or simply "Post Road", it gradually gains latitude from west to east. Thus U.S. 1 west is officially designated "South" and east is "North".

Interstate 91

The start of Interstate 91 begins at the interchange in New Haven with I-95. It runs parallel to U.S. Route 5 as it heads towards Hartford and Vermont.

Interstate 95

The western portions of Interstate 95 in Connecticut are known as the Connecticut Turnpike or the Governor John Davis Lodge Turnpike in New Haven County and it crosses the state approximately parallel to U.S. Route 1. The road is most commonly referred to as "I-95". The highway is six lanes (sometimes eight lanes) throughout the county. It was completed in 1958 and is often clogged with traffic particularly during morning and evening rush hours.

With the cost of land so high along the Gold Coast, state lawmakers say they don't consider widening the highway to be fiscally feasible, although occasional stretches between entrances and nearby exits are now sometimes connected with a fourth "operational improvement" lane (for instance, westbound between the Exit 10 interchange in Darien and Exit 8 in Stamford). Expect similar added lanes in Darien and elsewhere in the Fairfield County portion of the highway in the future, lawmakers and state Department of Transportation officials say.

Wilbur Cross Parkway

The Wilbur Cross Parkway or Connecticut Route 15, is a truck-free scenic parkway that runs through the county parallel and generally several miles north of Interstate 95. It begins at the Igor I. Sikorsky Memorial Bridge and terminates at the Berlin turnpike. The parkway goes through Heroes Tunnel in New Haven.

The parkway is a National Scenic Byway and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Interstate 84

Interstate 84, which runs through Danbury, is scheduled to be widened to a six-lane highway at all points between Danbury and Waterbury. State officials say they hope the widening will not only benefit drivers regularly on the route but also entice some cars from the more crowded Interstate 95, which is roughly parallel to it. Heavier trucks are unlikely to use Interstate 84 more often, however, because the route is much hillier than I-95 according to a state Department of Transportation official.

See also

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