New Haven County, Connecticut

New Haven County
County
The New Haven Green Historic District
Location within the U.S. state of Connecticut
Connecticut's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 41°21′N 72°54′W / 41.35°N 72.9°W / 41.35; -72.9
Country	United States
State	Connecticut
Founded	1666
Named for	New Haven Colony
Seat	none (since 1960) New Haven (before 1960)
Largest municipality	New Haven (population) Guilford (area)
Area
• Total	862 sq mi (2,230 km2)
• Land	605 sq mi (1,570 km2)
• Water	258 sq mi (670 km2)  29.9%
Population  (2020)
• Total	864,835
• Density	1,429.5/sq mi (551.9/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional districts	2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th

Interactive map of New Haven County, Connecticut

New Haven County is a county in the south central part of the U.S. state of Connecticut. As of the 2020 census, the population was 864,835,^[1] making it the third-most populous county in Connecticut. Two of the state's top 5 largest cities, New Haven (3rd) and Waterbury (5th), are part of New Haven County.

New Haven County is part of the New Haven-Milford, CT Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the New York metropolitan Combined Statistical Area.

County governments were abolished in Connecticut in 1960. Thus, as is the case with all eight of Connecticut's counties, there is no county government, and no county seat. Until 1960, the city of New Haven was the county seat. In Connecticut, towns are responsible for all local government activities, including fire and rescue, snow removal and schools. In some cases, neighboring towns will share certain activities, e.g. schools, health, etc. New Haven County is merely a group of towns on a map, and has no specific government authority. The county Sheriff system was abolished by voters and replaced by State Judicial Marshals in 2000. As a result, the state judicial system in New Haven County has three judicial districts: New Haven, Ansonia-Milford, and Waterbury. On June 6, 2022, the U.S. Census Bureau formally recognized Connecticut's nine councils of governments as county equivalents instead of the state's eight counties. Connecticut's eight historical counties continue to exist in name only, and are no longer considered for statistical purposes.^[2]