List of counties in New York

Counties of New York
Counties of New York
Location	State of New York
Number	62
Populations	5,118 (Hamilton) – 2,590,516 (Kings)
Areas	33.77 square miles (87.5 km2) (New York) – 2,821 square miles (7,310 km2) (St. Lawrence)
Government	County government;
Subdivisions	Cities, Towns, Indian Reservations;

There are 62 counties in the U.S. state of New York.

The first 12 were created immediately after the British took over the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam; two of these counties were later abolished, their land going to Massachusetts.[1] The newest is Bronx County, created in 1914 from the portions of New York City that had been annexed from Westchester County in the late 19th century and added to New York County.[2] New York's counties are named for various Native American words; British provinces, counties, cities, and royalty; early American statesmen and military personnel; and New York State politicians.[3]

The county boundaries in New York state were last changed in 1964, when the Bronx gained South Brother Island from Queens.[4]

Authority

Excepting the five boroughs of New York City, New York counties are governed by New York County Law and have governments run by either a Board of Supervisors or a County Legislature, and either an elected County Executive or appointed county manager. Counties without charters are run by a Board of Supervisors, in which Town Supervisors from towns within the county also sit on the county Board of Supervisors. For counties with a charter, the executives generally have powers to veto acts of the county legislature. The legislatures have powers of setting policies, levying taxes and distributing funds.

Five boroughs of New York City

Five of New York's counties are each coextensive with New York City's five boroughs. They are New York County (Manhattan), Kings County (Brooklyn), Bronx County (The Bronx), Richmond County (Staten Island), and Queens County (Queens).

In contrast to other counties of New York, the powers of the five boroughs of New York City are very limited and in nearly all respects are governed by the city government.[5] Only a few officials are elected on a borough-wide basis, such as the five borough presidents, district attorneys, and all county and state supreme court judges. There are no official county seats, but the locations of borough halls and courthouses bestow certain neighborhoods an informal designation as county seats within their boroughs:

County	FIPS Code [6]	County seat [7]	Est. [7][8]	Formed from [2]	Named for [3]	Density (Pop./mi²)	Pop. (2022) [9]	Area [7]
Albany County	001	Albany	November 1, 1683	One of 12 original counties created in the New York colony	James II of England (James VII of Scotland) (1633–1701), who was Duke of York (English title) and Duke of Albany (Scottish title) before becoming King of England, Ireland, and Scotland.	592.52	315,811	533 sq mi (1,380 km²)
Allegany County	003	Belmont	April 7, 1806	Genesee County	A variant spelling of the Allegheny River	45.16	46,694	1,034 sq mi (2,678 km²)
Bronx County	005	none (sui generis)	January 1, 1914[10]	New York County	Jonas Bronck (1600?–1643), an early settler of the Dutch colony of New Netherland	24,028.31	1,379,946	57.43 sq mi (149 km²)
Broome County	007	Binghamton	March 28, 1806	Tioga County	John Broome (1738–1810), fourth Lieutenant Governor of New York	275.69	197,117	715 sq mi (1,852 km²)
Cattaraugus County	009	Little Valley	March 11, 1808	Genesee County	A word from an uncertain Iroquoian language meaning "bad smelling banks", referring to the odor of natural gas which leaked from Cattaraugus Creek	58.35	76,439	1,310 sq mi (3,393 km²)
Cayuga County	011	Auburn	March 8, 1799	Onondaga County	The Cayuga tribe of Native Americans	86.80	74,998	864 sq mi (2,238 km²)
Chautauqua County	013	Mayville	March 11, 1808	Genesee County	Loanword from the Erie language describing Chautauqua Lake; language now lost and cannot be translated	84.02	126,027	1,500 sq mi (3,885 km²)
Chemung County	015	Elmira	March 20, 1836	Tioga County	A Lenape word meaning "big horn", which was the name of a local Native American village	198.21	81,426	410.81 sq mi (1,064 km²)
Chenango County	017	Norwich	March 15, 1798	Tioga County and Herkimer County	An Onondaga word meaning "large bull-thistle"	51.69	46,458	898.85 sq mi (2,328 km²)
Clinton County	019	Plattsburgh	March 4, 1788	Washington County	George Clinton (1739–1812), fourth Vice President of the United States and first and third Governor of New York	70.44	78,753	1,118 sq mi (2,896 km²)
Columbia County	021	Hudson	April 1, 1786	Albany County	Christopher Columbus (1451–1506), the European explorer	94.58	61,286	648 sq mi (1,678 km²)
Cortland County	023	Cortland	April 8, 1808	Onondaga County	Pierre Van Cortlandt (1721–1814), first Lieutenant Governor of New York	91.88	46,126	502 sq mi (1,300 km²)
Delaware County	025	Delhi	March 10, 1797	Otsego County and Ulster County	Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr (1577–1618), an early colonial leader in Virginia. Name applied to the bay, river, and Lenape Native Americans	30.48	44,740	1,468 sq mi (3,802 km²)
Dutchess County	027	Poughkeepsie	November 1, 1683	One of 12 original counties created in the New York colony	Mary of Modena (1658–1718), Duchess of York and wife of King James II of England	360.66	297,545	825 sq mi (2,137 km²)
Erie County	029	Buffalo	April 2, 1821	Niagara County	The Erie tribe of Native Americans	774.50	950,312	1,227 sq mi (3,178 km²)
Essex County	031	Elizabethtown	March 1, 1799	Clinton County	The county of Essex in England	19.26	36,910	1,916 sq mi (4,962 km²)
Franklin County	033	Malone	March 11, 1808	Clinton County	Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790), the early American printer, scientist, and statesman	27.33	46,373	1,697 sq mi (4,395 km²)
Fulton County	035	Johnstown	April 18, 1838	Montgomery County	Robert Fulton (1765–1815), inventor of the steamship	98.82	52,669	533 sq mi (1,380 km²)
Genesee County	037	Batavia	March 30, 1802	Ontario County and land acquired in the Holland Purchase	A Seneca phrase meaning "good valley"	116.23	57,535	495 sq mi (1,282 km²)
Greene County	039	Catskill	March 25, 1800	Albany County and Ulster County	Nathanael Greene (1742–1786), the American Revolutionary War general	73.04	48,061	658 sq mi (1,704 km²)
Hamilton County	041	Lake Pleasant	April 12, 1816	Montgomery County	Alexander Hamilton (1755–1804), the early American political theorist and first Secretary of the Treasury	2.83	5,118	1,808 sq mi (4,683 km²)
Herkimer County	043	Herkimer	February 16, 1791	Montgomery County	Nicholas Herkimer (1728–1777), the American Revolutionary War general	41.03	59,822	1,458 sq mi (3,776 km²)
Jefferson County	045	Watertown	March 28, 1805	Oneida County	Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), the early American statesman, author of the Declaration of Independence, and third President of the United States	62.81	116,637	1,857 sq mi (4,810 km²)
Kings County	047	none (sui generis)	November 1, 1683	One of 12 original counties created in the New York colony	King Charles II of England (1630–1685)	26,733.91	2,590,516	96.9 sq mi (251 km²)
Lewis County	049	Lowville	March 28, 1805	Oneida County	Morgan Lewis (1754–1844), the fourth Governor of New York	20.70	26,699	1,290 sq mi (3,341 km²)
Livingston County	051	Geneseo	February 23, 1821	Genesee County and Ontario County	Robert Livingston (1746–1813), the early American statesman and New York delegate to the Continental Congress	96.12	61,516	640 sq mi (1,658 km²)
Madison County	053	Wampsville	March 21, 1806	Chenango County	James Madison (1751–1836), the early American statesman, principal author of the Constitution of the United States, and fourth President of the United States	101.35	67,097	662 sq mi (1,715 km²)
Monroe County	055	Rochester	February 23, 1821	Genesee County and Ontario County	James Monroe (1758–1831), the early American statesman and fifth President of the United States	550.54	752,035	1,366 sq mi (3,538 km²)
Montgomery County	057	Fonda	March 12, 1772	Albany County	Originally Tryon County after colonial governor William Tryon (1729–1788), renamed after the American Revolutionary War general Richard Montgomery (1738–1775) in 1784	121.03	49,623	410 sq mi (1,062 km²)
Nassau County	059	Mineola	January 1, 1899	Queens County	The Princes of Orange-Nassau ruled the Netherlands when Long Island was a Dutch colony	3,054.58	1,383,726	453 sq mi (1,173 km²)
New York County	061	none (sui generis)	November 1, 1683	One of 12 original counties created in the New York colony	King James II of England (1633–1701), who was Duke of York and Albany before he ascended the throne of England, Duke of York being his English title	47,268.97	1,596,273	33.77 sq mi (87 km²)
Niagara County	063	Lockport	March 11, 1808	Genesee County	The Iroquoian name of a tribe within the Neutral Nation, the exact translation of which remains disputed	184.98	210,880	1,140 sq mi (2,953 km²)
Oneida County	065	Utica	March 15, 1798	Herkimer County	The Oneida tribe of Native Americans	188.66	228,846	1,213 sq mi (3,142 km²)
Onondaga County	067	Syracuse	March 5, 1794	Herkimer County	The Onondaga tribe of Native Americans	580.95	468,249	806 sq mi (2,088 km²)
Ontario County	069	Canandaigua	January 27, 1789	Land acquired in the Phelps and Gorham Purchase	An Iroquoian word meaning "beautiful lake"	170.25	112,707	662 sq mi (1,715 km²)
Orange County	071	Goshen	November 1, 1683	One of 12 original counties created in the New York colony	William of Orange-Nassau (1650–1702), who became King William III of England	483.84	405,941	839 sq mi (2,173 km²)
Orleans County	073	Albion	November 12, 1824	Genesee County	The French Royal House of Orléans	48.12	39,318	817 sq mi (2,116 km²)
Oswego County	075	Oswego	March 1, 1816	Oneida County and Onondaga County	The Oswego River, from an Iroquoian word meaning "the outpouring", referring to the mouth of the river	90.16	118,287	1,312 sq mi (3,398 km²)
Otsego County	077	Cooperstown	February 16, 1791	Montgomery County	A Native American word meaning "place of the rock"	60.45	60,636	1,003 sq mi (2,598 km²)
Putnam County	079	Carmel Hamlet	June 12, 1812	Dutchess County	Israel Putnam (1718–1790), an American Revolutionary War general	398.56	98,045	246 sq mi (637 km²)

County	Created [2]	Abolished [2]	Fate[2]
Charlotte County	1772	1784	Partitioned. Western part renamed as Washington County and eastern part transferred to Vermont.
Cornwall County	1665	1686	Transferred to the part of Massachusetts that later became the state of Maine and partitioned; one of the 12 original counties created in the New York colony
Cumberland County	1766	1777	Transferred to Vermont and partitioned
Dukes County	November 1, 1683	1692	Transferred to Massachusetts; one of 12 original counties created in the New York colony
Gloucester County	1770	1777	Transferred to Vermont and partitioned
Mexico County	1792	1796	Never settled or incorporated, reallocated to Oneida, Oswego and Jefferson Counties.
Tryon County	1772	1784	Renamed as Montgomery County

County	Note
Adirondack County	Would hypothetically consist of portions of northern Essex County and southern Franklin County[11]
Peconic County	Would hypothetically consist of the five easternmost towns in Suffolk County on Long Island.[12]

List of counties in New York

Authority

Five boroughs of New York City

List of counties

Defunct counties

Proposed new counties

Clickable map

See also

References

External links