Suffolk County is a county located in the U.S. State of New York. As of 2000, the population is 1,419,369. It was named for Suffolk, a county in England, from which its earliest settlers came. Its county seat is Riverhead. Suffolk and Nassau counties are generally referred to as "Long Island" (as distinct from New York City) by area residents.
Suffolk County was an original county of New York State, one of twelve created in 1683. Its boundaries were substantially the same as at present, with only minor changes in the boundary with its western neighbor, which was originally Queens County but since 1899 has been Nassau County. However, as Suffolk has become more suburban there has been agitation by people living in the more rural East End of the island to divide Suffolk into two counties. Supporters of the idea feel that this would give them a larger voice in the proposed county government than they have in Suffolk as it now stands.
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2 Law and Government 3 Demographics 4 Cities and Towns 5 Indian reservations |
Geography
The county has a total area of 6,146 km² (2,373 mi²). 2,363 km² (912 mi²) of it is land and 3,784 km² (1,461 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 61.56% water.
Suffolk County occupies the easternmost portion of Long Island, in the southeastern portion of New York State. It is divided into 10 towns:
Demographics
As of 2000, there are 1,419,369 people, 469,299 households, and 360,421 families residing in the county. The population density is 601/km² (1,556/mi²). There are 522,323 housing units at an average density of 221 persons/km² (573 persons/mi²). The racial makeup of the county is 84.60% White, 6.94% African American, 0.27% Native American, 2.45% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 3.65% from other races, and 2.06% from two or more races. 10.53% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 469,299 households out of which 37.00% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.00% are married couples living together, 10.80% have a woman whose husband does not live with her, and 23.20% are non-families. 18.30% of all households are made up of individuals and 7.80% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.96 and the average family size is 3.36.
In the county the population is spread out with 26.10% under the age of 18, 7.60% from 18 to 24, 31.20% from 25 to 44, 23.30% from 45 to 64, and 11.80% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 36 years. For every 100 females there are 95.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 92.80 males.
The median income for a household in the county is $65,288, and the median income for a family is $72,112. Males have a median income of $50,046 versus $33,281 for females. The per capita income for the county is $26,577. 6.00% of the population and 3.90% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 6.70% are under the age of 18 and 6.30% are 65 or older.
Cities and Towns
Indian reservations