Suffolk County, Long Island

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Suffolk County features a wide variety of natural beauty. 

Suffolk County, named after the English county from which its earliest settlers came, is today one of the wealthiest counties in New York State, and offers both a diverse economic and geographic landscape.

Suffolk County is composed of the enitre eastern end of Long Island, and is surrounded by four different major bodies of water, the Long Island Sound, the Peconic Bay, the Great South Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.  
 
Suffolk is the largest of the four counties on Long Island, and along with Nassau County composes what it generally referred to as “Long Island.”  According to the 2010 census, the population of Suffolk is approximately 1,493,350 people, making it the fourth most populous county in the state.  
 
Suffolk was one of the original counties in the Province of New York, an English crown territory, and was formed in 1683.  The political boundaries remain almost the same as they were over 300 years ago, with only slight alterations along the Nassau-Suffolk border stemming from the division of Nassau and Queens counties in 1898.
 
The county boasts itself as New York’s leader in agriculture, which it attributes to both the bounty of natural resources, including rich soil and an abundant water source, as well as conscientious development and planning.

Ten towns are located within Suffolk County, as well as Long Island’s only Native American reservations.  The Shinnecock reservation is located within Southampton village, Tuckahoe and Shinnecock Hills.  The smaller Poospatuck reservation is enclaved within the Town of Brookhaven.

Population
Total Population (2010)
( in housing units unless noted )		 1,493,350

 

Housing Status
Total 569,985
Occupied 499,922
Owner-occupied 393,507
Population in owner-occupied ( number of individuals )
 1,192,016
Renter-occupied 106,415
Population in renter-occupied ( number of individuals )
 271,928
Households with individuals under 18 188,048
Vacant 70,063
Vacant: for rent 6,778
Vacant: for sale 6,138

 

Population by Sex/Age
Male 734,668
Female 758,682
Under 18 357,670
18 & over 1,135,680
20 - 24 90,371
25 - 34 166,685
35 - 49 341,800
50 - 64 295,539
65 & over 201,793

 

Population by Ethnicity
Hispanic or Latino 246,239
Non Hispanic or Latino 1,247,111

 

Population by Race
White 1,206,297
African American 111,224
Asian 50,972
American Indian and Alaska Native 5,366
Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander 495
Other 82,965
Identified by two or more 36,031


List of Towns in Suffolk County

 

Additional Resources