Suffolk County, Massachusetts

Suffolk County, Massachusetts

Location in the state of Massachusetts

Massachusetts's location in the U.S.
Founded 1643
Seat Boston
Largest city Boston
Area
 - Total
 - Land
 - Water

120.19 sq mi (311 km²)
58.52 sq mi (152 km²)
61.68 sq mi (160 km²), 51.32%
Population
 - (2010)
 - Density

722,023
12,237/sq mi (4,750/km²)

Suffolk County is a county of Massachusetts. As of 2010, the population was 722,023. The county seat is Boston, the state capital and largest city.[1]

Contents

History

The county was created by the Massachusetts General Court on May 10, 1643, when it was ordered "that the whole plantation within this jurisdiction be divided into four shires". Suffolk initially contained Boston, Roxbury, Dorchester, Dedham, Braintree, Weymouth, and Hingham.[2] The county was named after Suffolk, England, and means "southern folk."[3]

In 1731, the extreme western portions of Suffolk County, (which included Uxbridge), were split off to become part of Worcester County. In 1793, most of the original Suffolk County except for Boston, Chelsea, Hingham, and Hull (which remained in Suffolk) split off and became Norfolk County. Hingham and Hull would leave Suffolk County and join Plymouth County in 1803.[4] Revere was set off from Chelsea and incorporated in 1846 and Winthrop was set off from Revere and incorporated in 1852. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, Boston annexed several adjacent cities and towns including Hyde Park, Roxbury, West Roxbury, and Dorchester from Norfolk County and Charlestown and Brighton from Middlesex County, resulting in an enlargement of Suffolk County.

Law and government

Presidential election results[5]
Year Democrat Republican
2008 76.9% 207,128 21.2% 57,194
2004 75.9% 182,592 22.8% 54,923
2000 71.4% 154,888 20.5% 44,441

Like an increasing number of Massachusetts counties, Suffolk County exists today only as a historical geographic region, and has no county government.[6] All former county functions were assumed by state agencies in 1999. The sheriff, district attorney, and some other regional officials with specific duties are still elected locally to perform duties within the county region, but there is no county council, executives or commissioners . Immediately prior to the abolition of county government, the authority of the Suffolk County Commission had for many years been exercised by the Boston City Council, even though three communities in the county are not part of the city. However, communities are now granted the right to form their own regional compacts for sharing services.[7]

Voter Registration and Party Enrollment as of October 15, 2008[8]
Party Number of Voters Percentage
  Democratic 234,443 54.46%
  Republican 31,271 7.26%
  Unaffiliated 161,320 37.47%
  Minor Parties 3,489 0.81%
Total 430,523 100%

Geography

According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 120.19 square miles (311.3 km2), of which 58.52 square miles (151.6 km2) (or 48.69%) is land and 61.68 square miles (159.8 km2) (or 51.32%) is water.[9]

Adjacent Counties

Suffolk County has no land border with Plymouth County to its southeast, but the two counties share a water boundary in the middle of Massachusetts Bay.

National protected areas

Demographics

Historical populations
Census Pop.
1790 44,865
1800 28,015 −37.6%
1810 34,381 22.7%
1820 43,940 27.8%
1830 62,163 41.5%
1840 95,773 54.1%
1850 144,517 50.9%
1860 192,700 33.3%
1870 270,802 40.5%
1880 387,927 43.3%
1890 484,780 25.0%
1900 611,417 26.1%
1910 731,388 19.6%
1920 835,522 14.2%
1930 879,536 5.3%
1940 863,248 −1.9%
1950 896,615 3.9%
1960 791,329 −11.7%
1970 735,190 −7.1%
1980 650,142 −11.6%
1990 663,906 2.1%
2000 689,807 3.9%
2010 722,023 4.7%

As of the census[10] of 2000, there were 689,807 people, 278,722 households, and 139,082 families residing in the county. The population density was 11,788 people per square mile (4,551/km²). There were 292,520 housing units at an average density of 4,999 per square mile (1,930/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 57.76% White, 22.24% Black or African American, 0.39% Native American, 7.00% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 8.17% from other races, and 4.38% from two or more races. 15.52% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 15.3% were of Irish, 11.1% Italian and 6.4% West Indian ancestry according to Census 2000. 66.3% spoke English, 14.5% Spanish, 3.1% French Creole, 2.4% Chinese or Mandarin, 2.2% Portuguese, 1.7% Vietnamese, 1.6% Italian and 1.3% French as their first language.

There were 278,722 households out of which 23.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 29.30% were married couples living together, 16.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 50.10% were non-families. 36.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 3.17.

In the county the population was spread out with 20.2% under the age of 18, 15.1% from 18 to 24, 35.5% from 25 to 44, 18.1% from 45 to 64, and 11% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 93.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.50 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $39,355, and the median income for a family was $44,361. Males had a median income of $37,174 versus $32,176 for females. The per capita income for the county was $22,766. About 14.90% of families and 19.00% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.90% of those under age 18 and 17.00% of those age 65 or over.

Cities and towns

See also

Notes

External links