Hartford County, Connecticut

Hartford County is a county located in the north central part of the U.S. state of Connecticut. According to the 2010 census, the population was 894,014,[1] making it the second-most populous county in Connecticut. In 2019, its population declined to an estimated 891,720.[2] Hartford County contains the city of Hartford, the state capital of Connecticut and the county's most populous city, with an estimated 122,105 residents in 2019.[3] Hartford County is included in the Hartford-East Hartford-Middletown metropolitan statistical area.

This article is about the county in Connecticut. For the city in Connecticut, see Hartford, Connecticut.
"Hartford County" redirects here. It is not to be confused with Harford County, Maryland.

Hartford County
County of Connecticut
County of Hartford
Top-bottom, left-right: Hartford County skyline from Heublein Tower, the Hartford skyline, the New Britain skyline, a house in Old Wethersfield, and the Old State House in Hartford.
Location within the U.S. state of Connecticut
Connecticut's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 41°49′N 72°44′W
Country United States
State Connecticut
FoundedMay 10, 1666
Seatnone (since 1960), Hartford (before 1960)
Largest cityHartford (population)
Glastonbury (area)
Area
 • Total750 sq mi (1,900 km2)
 • Land735 sq mi (1,900 km2)
 • Water16 sq mi (40 km2)  2.1%%
Population
 (2010)
 • Total894,014
 • Estimate 
(2019)
891,720
 • Density1,200/sq mi (460/km2)
Congressional districts1st, 2nd, 5th

History

Hartford County was one of four original counties in Connecticut established on May 10, 1666, by an act of the Connecticut General Court. The act establishing the county states:

This Court orders that the Townes on the River from yee
north bounds of Windsor wth Farmington to ye south end of
ye bounds of Thirty Miles Island shalbe & remaine to be one
County wch shalbe called the County of Hartford. And it
is ordered that the County Court shalbe kept at Hartford on
the 1st Thursday in March and on the first Thursday in September yearely.[4]

As established in 1666, Hartford County consisted of the towns of Windsor, Wethersfield, Hartford, Farmington, and Middletown. The "Thirty Miles Island" referred to in the constituting Act was incorporated as the town of Haddam in 1668.[5] In 1670, the town of Simsbury was established, extending Hartford County to the Massachusetts border. In the late 17th to early 18th centuries, several more towns were established and added to Hartford County: Waterbury in 1686 (transferred to New Haven County in 1728), Windham in 1694 (transferred to Windham County in 1726), Hebron in 1708 (transferred to Tolland County in 1785), Coventry in 1712 (transferred to Windham County in 1726), and Litchfield in 1722 (transferred to Litchfield County in 1751).

In 1714, all of the unincorporated territory north of the towns of Coventry and Windham in northeastern Connecticut to the Massachusetts border were placed under the jurisdiction of Hartford County. Windham County was constituted in 1726, resulting in Hartford County losing the towns of Windham, Coventry, Mansfield (incorporated in 1702), and Ashford (incorporated in 1714). Northwestern Connecticut, which was originally placed under the jurisdiction of New Haven County in 1722, was transferred to Hartford County by 1738. All of northwestern Connecticut was later constituted as the new Litchfield County in 1751. In 1785, two more counties were established in what was now the U.S. state of Connecticut: Tolland and Middlesex. This mostly resulted in the modern extent of Hartford County. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the establishment of several more towns resulted in minor adjustments in the bounds of the county. The final adjustment resulting in the modern limits occurred on May 8, 1806, when the town of Canton was established.[6]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau in 2010, the county had a total area of 751 square miles (1,950 km2), of which 735 square miles (1,900 km2) is land and 16 square miles (41 km2) (2.1%) is water.[7] It is the second-largest county in Connecticut by land area.

The county is divided into two unequal parts by the Connecticut River, and watered by Farmington, Mill, Podunk, Scantic, and other rivers. The surface is very diverse: part of the river valleys are alluvial and subject to flooding, while other portions of the county are hilly and even mountainous.[8]

Adjacent counties

Communities

In Connecticut, there is no county-level executive or legislative government; the counties determine probate, civil and criminal court boundaries, but little else. Each city or town is responsible for local services such as schools, snow removal, sewers, fire department and police departments. In Connecticut, cities and towns may agree to jointly provide services or establish a regional school system.

Cities

Towns

Demographics
Historical population
CensusPop.%±
179038,149—
180042,14710.5%
181044,7336.1%
182047,2645.7%
183051,1318.2%
184055,6298.8%
185069,96725.8%
186089,96228.6%
1870109,00721.2%
1880125,38215.0%
1890147,18017.4%
1900195,48032.8%
1910250,18228.0%
1920336,02734.3%
1930421,09725.3%
1940450,1896.9%
1950539,66119.9%
1960689,55527.8%
1970816,73718.4%
1980807,766−1.1%
1990851,7835.4%
2000857,1830.6%
2010894,0144.3%
2019 (est.)891,720[3]−0.3%
U.S. Decennial Census[9]
1790-1960[10] 1900-1990[11]
1990-2000[12] 2010-2018[1]

2000 census

As of the census[13] of 2000, there were 857,183 people, 335,098 households, and 222,505 families living in the county. The population density was 1,166 people per square mile (450/km2). There were 353,022 housing units at an average density of 480 per square mile (185/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 76.90% White, 11.66% Black or African American, 0.23% Native American, 2.42% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 6.43% from other races, and 2.31% from two or more races. 11.55% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 15.2% were of Italian, 11.2% Irish, 9.1% Polish, 6.5% English, 5.7% French and 5.3% German ancestry. 78.4% spoke English, 10.3% Spanish, 2.6% Polish, 1.9% French and 1.6% Italian as their first language.

There were 335,098 households, out of which 31.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.20% were married couples living together, 13.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.60% were non-families. 27.90% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 3.05.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 24.60% under the age of 18, 7.80% from 18 to 24, 29.80% from 25 to 44, 23.20% from 45 to 64, and 14.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.00 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $50,756, and the median income for a family was $62,144. Males had a median income of $43,985 versus $33,042 for females. The per capita income for the county was $26,047. About 7.10% of families and 9.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.90% of those under age 18 and 7.60% of those age 65 or over.

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 894,014 people, 350,854 households, and 227,831 families living in the county.[14] The population density was 1,216.2 inhabitants per square mile (469.6/km2). There were 374,249 housing units at an average density of 509.1 per square mile (196.6/km2).[15] The racial makeup of the county was 72.4% white, 13.3% black, 4.2% Asian, 0.3% American Indian, 7.1% from other races, and 2.7% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic origin made up 15.3% of the population.[14] In terms of ancestry, 15.9% were Italian, 15.6% were Irish, 10.7% were Polish, 9.4% were English, 8.8% were German, and 2.5% were American.[16]

Of the 350,854 households, 31.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.0% were married couples living together, 14.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 35.1% were non-families, and 28.7% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.06. The median age was 39.9 years.[14]

The median income for a household in the county was $62,590 and the median income for a family was $78,599. Males had a median income of $56,181 versus $44,273 for females. The per capita income for the county was $33,151. About 8.0% of families and 10.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.3% of those under age 18 and 7.7% of those age 65 or over.[17]

Income
See also: List of Connecticut locations by per capita income

Data is from the 2010 United States Census and the 2006-2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.[18][19]

Rank Town Per capita
income		 Median
household
income		 Median
family
income		 Population Number of
households		 Pop. Density
1 Glastonbury Town $73,020 $127,237 $145,321 34,427 12,866 670
2 Avon Town $55,879 $105,116 $129,651 18,098 7,009 770
3 Simsbury Town $54,571 $113,224 $135,772 23,511 8,776 685
4 Farmington Town $50,541 $85,417 $106,885 25,340 10,522 881
5 Granby Town $46,687 $97,500 $111,339 11,282 4,194 277
6 Canton Town $46,401 $87,643 $101,793 10,292 4,150 412
7 West Hartford Town $43,534 $78,530 $102,547 63,268 25,258 2,837
8 Burlington Town $43,392 $115,341 $120,580 9,301 3,291 306
9 Marlborough Town $41,669 $108,232 $110,527 6,404 2,292 272
10 Suffield Town $41,098 $90,023 $99,855 15,735 5,155 366
11 East Granby Town $40,698 $77,596 $97,174 5,148 2,062 291
12 Bloomfield Town $39,738 $68,372 $84,583 20,486 8,554 779
13 South Windsor Town $38,945 $88,350 $94,602 25,709 9,918 896
14 Berlin Town $38,134 $86,211 $98,677 19,866 7,808 736
15 Wethersfield Town $37,329 $71,284 $91,563 26,668 11,204 2,036
16 Hartland Town $36,874 $85,956 $91,188 2,114 789 61
17 Southington Town $36,053 $77,673 $102,186 43,069 16,814 1,177
18 Rocky Hill Town $36,021 $72,417 $88,750 19,709 8,307 1,426
19 Windsor Town $35,780 $78,695 $90,856 29,044 11,233 937
20 Manchester Town $32,752 $61,571 $77,018 58,241 24,689 2,103
21 Newington Town $32,561 $69,085 $80,597 30,562 12,550 2,333
22 East Windsor Town $31,162 $64,301 $76,502 11,162 4,750 416
23 Plainville Town $31,000 $63,447 $80,205 17,716 7,580 1,814
24 Windsor Locks Town $30,436 $59,369 $70,439 12,498 5,223 1,330
25 Bristol City $29,629 $58,537 $72,038 60,477 25,320 2,257
26 Enfield Town $29,340 $67,402 $77,554 44,654 16,794 1,306
27 East Hartford Town $24,373 $48,613 $57,848 51,252 20,195 2,741
28 New Britain City $21,056 $39,706 $45,990 73,206 28,158 5,463
29 Hartford City $16,798 $28,970 $32,820 124,775 45,124 6,932

Race

Data is from the 2007-2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, ACS Demographic and Housing Estimates, "Race alone or in combination with one or more other races."[20]

Rank Town Population White Black Asian American
Indian		 Other Hispanic
1 Hartford City 124,817 35.1% 39.8% 2.9% 1.5% 25.1% 42.4%
2 New Britain City 73,055 68.2% 15.3% 2.7% 0.5% 17.2% 34.8%
3 West Hartford Town 63,066 84.6% 7.4% 8.2% 0.7% 2.3% 9.1%
4 Bristol City 60,473 90.0% 5.1% 2.3% 0.8% 4.9% 9.5%
5 Manchester Town 57,897 77.0% 11.7% 7.8% 0.6% 5.6% 12.5%
6 East Hartford Town 51,091 54.4% 25.4% 7.3% 0.9% 15.5% 25.7%
7 Enfield Town 44,747 88.5% 7.4% 2.1% 0.4% 3.5% 7.2%
8 Southington Town 42,731 96.3% 1.2% 1.8% 0.2% 1.0% 3.4%
9 Glastonbury Town 34,171 87.7% 4.1% 7.0% 0.4% 2.2% 4.6%
10 Newington Town 30,441 86.9% 6.0% 6.3% 0.6% 2.5% 7.2%
11 Windsor Town 28,962 56.4% 37.6% 5.0% 0.5% 3.7% 8.4%
12 Wethersfield Town 26,641 92.4% 3.4% 1.8% 0.5% 3.3% 8.8%
13 South Windsor Town 25,577 84.7% 5.2% 8.4% 0.4% 2.9% 5.3%
14 Farmington Town 25,186 90.0% 3.0% 7.8% 0.4% 0.3% 1.3%
15 Simsbury Town 23,498 94.3% 2.3% 4.0% 0.5% 0.4% 2.3%
16 Bloomfield Town 20,406 40.1% 59.0% 1.7% 2.6% 1.4% 3.7%
17 Berlin Town 19,694 94.3% 1.5% 2.7% 0.4% 1.9% 2.7%
18 Rocky Hill Town 19,533 78.7% 4.9% 13.9% 1.6% 3.2% 6.5%
19 Avon Town 17,859 90.5% 2.3% 8.0% 0.5% 1.0% 4.2%
20 Plainville Town 17,670 95.7% 2.9% 2.3% 0.3% 1.0% 4.7%
21 Suffield Town 15,513 86.3% 9.6% 1.5% 1.5% 4.0% 5.8%
22 Windsor Locks Town 12,466 89.1% 4.2% 6.0% 1.1% 1.2% 3.6%
23 Granby Town 11,192 96.1% 2.7% 1.2% 0.1% 1.3% 4.0%
24 East Windsor Town 11,024 83.2% 10.2% 6.9% 0.6% 0.9% 5.5%
25 Canton Town 10,139 99.0% 0.6% 1.1% 0.5% 0.4% 2.6%
26 Burlington Town 9,191 97.8% 1.1% 1.5% 0.1% 0.3% 2.5%
27 Marlborough Town 6,335 98.8% 1.0% 0.5% 0.7% 0.5% 1.6%
28 East Granby Town 5,055 89.9% 2.4% 6.9% 0.2% 1.3% 4.3%
29 Hartland Town 2,158 97.5% 0.9% 2.1% 0.4% 0.2% 0.3%

Transportation

Major highways

Public transportation

Politics

Prior to 1960, Hartford County was a Republican-leaning swing county in presidential elections. Since then, it has become solidly Democratic similar to most of New England, with the only Republicans to carry the county since then being Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan in their 49-state landslide victories of 1972 and 1984, respectively.

Presidential election results
Hartford County vote
by party in presidential elections[21]
Year GOP DEM Others
2020 35.3% 159,024 63.0% 283,368 1.5% 6,944
2016 36.4% 148,173 59.1% 240,403 4.5% 18,288
2012 36.5% 143,238 62.4% 244,639 1.1% 4,363
2008 33.7% 138,984 65.1% 268,721 1.2% 5,023
2004 39.5% 154,919 58.7% 229,902 1.8% 6,987
2000 34.7% 127,468 60.2% 221,167 5.2% 18,921
1996 31.3% 111,566 57.0% 203,549 11.7% 41,726
1992 32.0% 132,591 47.1% 195,495 20.9% 86,718
1988 46.0% 173,031 53.1% 199,857 1.0% 3,648
1984 55.0% 208,210 44.6% 168,609 0.4% 1,586
1980 40.5% 150,265 44.3% 164,643 15.2% 56,472
1976 47.5% 175,064 51.9% 191,257 0.6% 2,173
1972 52.1% 194,095 46.9% 174,837 1.0% 3,654
1968 38.8% 131,740 56.2% 190,865 5.0% 17,096
1964 27.0% 88,811 72.9% 240,071 0.2% 622
1960 41.1% 136,459 58.9% 195,403 0.0% 2
1956 58.1% 175,894 41.9% 126,923 0.0% 0
1952 50.5% 150,332 49.2% 146,551 0.3% 831
1948 44.7% 105,262 53.1% 124,874 2.2% 5,157
1944 42.5% 95,224 57.0% 127,841 0.5% 1,153
1940 43.4% 88,155 56.3% 114,336 0.2% 462
1936 37.2% 65,652 58.7% 103,450 4.1% 7,216
1932 48.4% 72,611 48.2% 72,322 3.5% 5,220
1928 53.2% 75,997 46.0% 65,789 0.8% 1,169
1924 61.9% 61,381 28.4% 28,139 9.7% 9,591
1920 60.7% 54,046 34.0% 30,287 5.2% 4,646
1916 46.8% 23,265 49.0% 24,398 4.2% 2,102
1912 39.1% 16,961 38.6% 16,756 22.3% 9,674
1908 61.4% 24,781 32.1% 12,967 6.5% 2,637
1904 57.7% 23,865 38.7% 16,004 3.7% 1,513
1900 59.3% 22,425 38.3% 14,490 2.5% 931
1896 57.9% 30,261 38.7% 20,212 3.5% 1,813
1892 43.5% 20,038 53.5% 24,633 3.0% 1,387
1888 45.0% 19,003 52.4% 22,113 2.5% 1,073
1884 44.5% 16,317 52.7% 19,324 2.9% 1,046

See also

References
  1. "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
  2. "ACS 2018 Demographic and Housing Estimates". data.census.gov. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
  3. "Population and Housing Unit Estimates". Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  4. "CCR: Volume 02, Page 39". Archived from the original on April 28, 2007. Retrieved June 17, 2008.
  5. "Haddam Historical Society - History of Haddam". haddamhistory.org. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  6. Newberry Library – Connecticut Atlas of Historical County Boundaries Archived November 10, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  7. "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. February 12, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
  8. Ripley, George; Dana, Charles A., eds. (1879). "Hartford, a N. county of Connecticut" . The American Cyclopædia.
  9. "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
  10. "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
  11. "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
  12. "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
  13. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved May 14, 2011.
  14. "DP-1 Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Demographic Profile Data". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
  15. "Population, Housing Units, Area, and Density: 2010 - County". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
  16. "DP02 SELECTED SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS IN THE UNITED STATES – 2006-2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
  17. "DP03 SELECTED ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS – 2006-2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
  18. "SELECTED ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS 2006-2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved November 25, 2012.
  19. "Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Demographic Profile Data". U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 2019-05-21. Retrieved 2012-11-25.
  20. "ACS DEMOGRAPHIC AND HOUSING ESTIMATES 2007-2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
  21. Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved May 26, 2017.

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