Strafford County, New Hampshire facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Strafford County
U.S. county
Strafford County Courthouse
Seal
Location within the U.S. state of New Hampshire
New Hampshire's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	New Hampshire
Founded	1771
Named for	William Wentworth, 2nd Earl of Strafford
Seat	Dover
Largest city	Dover
Area
• Total	382.6 sq mi (991 km2)
• Land	367.6 sq mi (952 km2)
• Water	15.0 sq mi (39 km2)  3.9%
Population  (2020)
• Total	130,889
• Estimate  (2022)	132,275
• Density	356.1/sq mi (137.5/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district	1st

Strafford County is a county in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. As of the 2020 census, the population was 130,889. Its county seat is Dover. Strafford County was one of the five original counties identified for New Hampshire in 1769. It was named after William Wentworth, 2nd Earl of Strafford in the mistaken belief that he was the ancestor of governor John Wentworth – although they were distantly related, William had no descendants. The county was organized at Dover in 1771. In 1840, the size of the original county was reduced with the creation of Belknap County.

Strafford County constitutes a portion of the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as of the greater Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH-CT Combined Statistical Area. It is estimated to be New Hampshire's county with the highest percentage growth over the 2010–2019 period.

Geography

Strafford County is in southeastern New Hampshire, separated from York County in the state of Maine by the Salmon Falls River. The southern part of the Salmon Falls, from Rollinsford to Dover, is a tidal river that flows into the Piscataqua River.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 384 square miles (990 km²), of which 369 square miles (960 km²) is land and 15 square miles (39 km²) (3.9%) is water. It is the smallest county in New Hampshire by area.

Adjacent counties

• Carroll County (north)
• York County, Maine (east)
• Rockingham County (south)
• Merrimack County (west)
• Belknap County (northwest)

Demographics

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 123,143 people, 47,100 households, and 29,862 families living in the county. The population density was 333.7 inhabitants per square mile (128.8/km²). There were 51,697 housing units at an average density of 140.1 per square mile (54.1/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 93.8% white, 2.6% Asian, 1.0% black or African American, 0.2% American Indian, 0.5% from other races, and 1.9% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.8% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 24.4% were French or French Canadian, 19.7% were Irish, 17.4% were English, 9.5% were Italian, 8.7% were German, 5.2% were American, and 5.0% were Scottish.

Of the 47,100 households, 30.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.4% were married couples living together, 10.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 36.6% were non-families, and 26.3% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.93. The median age was 36.9 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $57,809 and the median income for a family was $72,286. Males had a median income of $50,489 versus $37,178 for females. The per capita income for the county was $28,059. About 6.7% of families and 11.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.3% of those under age 18 and 8.0% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Order naming Daniel Waldron justice of the peace, Strafford County, 1815

Cities

• Dover (county seat)
• Rochester
• Somersworth

Towns

Census-designated places

• Durham
• Farmington
• Milton
• Milton Mills

Villages

• Bow Lake Village
• Center Strafford
• East Rochester
• Gonic
• North Rochester
• Place

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Strafford para niños