Suffolk County, Massachusetts Article Index for
Suffolk County
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Information About

Suffolk County, Massachusetts




  State Massachusetts
  Map Map of Massachusetts highlighting Suffolk Countypng
  Map Size 200
  Founded 1643
  Seat Boston
  Area Mi 120
  Area Km 311
  Area Land Mi 59
  Area Land Km 152
  Area Water Mi 62
  Area Water Km 160
  Area Percentage 5132%
  Census Yr 2000
  Pop 689,807
  Density Mi 11,692
  Density Km 4,538


Suffolk County is a County of Massachusetts . As of 2000, the population was 689,807. Its County Seat is Boston 6 .


HISTORY

In 1793 most of the original Suffolk County except for Boston, Chelsea, Hingham and Hull split off and became Norfolk County.


LAW AND GOVERNMENT

Like an increasing number of Massachusetts counties, Suffolk County exists today only as a historical geographic region, and has no county government. 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 or commissioner. (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.See also: League of Women Voters page on counties .


GEOGRAPHY

According to the U.S. Census Bureau , the county has a total area of 311 Km&2 (120 Mi&2 ). 152 km&2 (59 mi&2) of it is land and 160 km&2 (62 mi&2) of it (51.32%) is water.


Adjacent Counties


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


DEMOGRAPHICS

  1790 44875
  1800 28015
  1810 34381
  1820 43940
  1830 62163
  1840 95773
  1850 144517
  1860 192700
  1870 270802
  1880 387927
  1890 484780
  1900 611417
  1910 731388
  1920 835522
  1930 879536
  1940 863248
  1950 896615
  1960 791329
  1970 735190
  1980 650142
  1990 663906
  2000 689807


are filled in by the color of the containing city.]]
As of the Census &2 of 2000, there were 689,807 people, 278,722 households, and 139,082 families residing in the county. The Population Density was 4,551/km&2 (11,788/mi&2). There were 292,520 housing units at an average density of 1,930/km&2 (4,999/mi&2). 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 20.20% under the age of 18, 15.10% from 18 to 24, 35.50% from 25 to 44, 18.10% from 45 to 64, and 11.00% 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.


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