Ecosystem Targets and Supporting Indicators

Watershed Population

This indicator uses US Census data to track the population living within the Long Island Sound watershed.

View Implementation Actions for Watershed Population

Show/Hide Table Data

Long Island Sound Watershed Population by State
CTNYMANHVTRI
1800251,03041,200136,92049,55079,6009,170
1850370,800187,200232,87075,920123,10010,770
1900908,400772,400544,80087,060110,60018,890
19502,007,3002,833,180914,410110,800117,00039,190
19703,032,2203,603,6101,088,220126,060123,04064,160
19803,107,5603,240,1401,092,670145,890142,80070,240
20003,405,5703,631,2501,170,210166,800165,40087,060
20103,574,0973,723,6191,203,754176,664167,02188,939
Total Long Island Sound Watershed Population
1800567,470
18501,000,660
19002,442,150
19506,021,880
19708,037,310
19807,799,300
20008,626,290
20108,934,094

WHAT IS A WATERSHED?

The watershed is all of the land that drains into Long Island Sound itself or bodies of water that connect to the Sound.  The watershed of Long Island Sound includes land from six states and extends north up to the border with Canada. The total area of the LIS watershed in Connecticut is 3,296,015 acres, which includes nearly the entire state. The total area of the LIS watershed in New York is 306,052 acres and is situated primarily along the coast in Long Island, Queens, the Bronx, and Westchester.

WHAT DOES THIS INDICATE?

This indicator provides population information for the total watershed plus state-level data for the parts of each state within the watershed.

STATUS

About 8.93 million people live in the watershed, according to the 2010 US Census, an increase of 3.5 percent from 2000. The increase is slightly higher than the 3.2 percent growth for the entire Northeast.  From 2000 to 2010, regional growth was much faster for the South and West (14.3 and 13.8 percent, respectively) than for the Midwest (3.9 percent) and Northeast (3.2 percent). About half of the watershed population lives near the coast in New York and Connecticut, according to an analysis done for a public perception survey of Long Island Sound in 2006.

DATA NOTES

Compiled by M.A. Parker, CT DEEP, from population data estimates maintained by the US Census Bureauthe University of Virginia Library with the cooperation and consent of the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research, and New York census 2000 town/city data from the Empire State Development – DataCenter.

Please complete your newsletter signup.