Historical U.S. Census Totals for Fairfield County, Connecticut

This article shows U.S. Census totals for Fairfield County, Connecticut, broken down by municipality, from 1900 to 2000.

Like most areas of New England, Fairfield County is (and has been at all times since well before the 20th century) entirely divided into incorporated municipalities. There is no unincorporated territory. There are three types of municipalities in Connecticut: towns, boroughs and cities. As in the other New England states, towns are the basic unit of municipal government.

Boroughs overlay towns and assume responsibility for some municipal services within their boundaries. Boroughs are not found in any of the other New England states, and are not very common in Connecticut today, although they were somewhat more numerous in the past. A number of boroughs have disincorporated over the years, choosing to revert back to full town control. Cities also overlay towns. This is different from the other New England states, where cities are a different type of municipality equivalent to a town (this difference is related to cities having originally developed in Connecticut from the borough model). Most current cities are coextensive with their parent town, however, such that the entire municipality functions as a city. In practice, these cities are really no different from cities in the other New England states.

It is also possible for a city in Connecticut to overlay part, but not all, of a town. There are currently only one or two examples, but it was a more common arrangement in the past. Many of today’s coextensive cities were non-coextensive at one time. As with boroughs, a number of non-coextensive cities have also disincorporated over the years, choosing to revert back to full town control.

The main tables below show municipalities at the town level. For any census, adding up the totals for each town should yield the county total. In cases where a community encompassed a coextensive city, the tables in the New England Historical U.S. Census Totals series mark the community as a city. In cases where a town included a non-coextensive city, the total shown below represents the entire town, including but not limited to the city. A separate section follows with population totals for boroughs and non-coextensive cities. For more information on the New England municipal system, see New England town.

Corporate changes since 1900

*1913 – Norwalk became a coextensive city (Note: before this time, there had been both a city of Norwalk as well as a city of South Norwalk each within, but each not coextensive with, the town of Norwalk)

*1915 – The city of Shelton was incorporated and made coextensive with the town of Huntington (Note: before this time, Shelton had been a borough within the town of Huntington)

*1919 – Huntington changed its name to Shelton (thus changing the name of town to match that of its coextensive city)

*1949 – Stamford became a coextensive city (Note: before this time, there had been a city of Stamford within, but not coextensive with, the town of Stamford)

*1965 – Danbury became a coextensive city (Note: before this time, there had been a city of Danbury within, but not coextensive with, the town of Danbury)

1900

County Total: 184,203

*Bridgeport (city) 70,996
*Norwalk (*) 19,932
*Danbury (*) 19,474
*Stamford (*) 18,839
*Greenwich 12,172
*Huntington 5,572
*Fairfield 4,489
*Westport 4,017
*Stratford 3,657
*Bethel 3,327
*Newtown 3,276
*Darien 3,116
*New Canaan 2,968
*Ridgefield 2,626
*Wilton 1,598
*Trumbull 1,587
*Redding 1,426
*Brookfield 1,046
*Monroe 1,043
*Easton 960
*Weston 840
*Sherman 658
*New Fairfield 584

(*) not a city in its entirety, but includes one or more non-coextensive cities that encompass a significant percentage of the town's overall population.

1910

County Total: 245,322

*Bridgeport (city) 102,054
*Stamford (*) 28,836
*Norwalk (*) 24,211
*Danbury (*) 23,502
*Greenwich 16,463
*Huntington 6,545
*Fairfield 6,134
*Stratford 5,712
*Westport 4,259
*Darien 3,946
*Bethel 3,792
*New Canaan 3,667
*Ridgefield 3,118
*Newtown 3,012
*Wilton 1,706
*Trumbull 1,642
*Redding 1,617
*Brookfield 1,101
*Easton 1,052
*Monroe 1,002
*Weston 831
*Sherman 569
*New Fairfield 551

(*) not a city in its entirety, but includes one or more non-coextensive cities that encompass a significant percentage of the town's overall population.

1920

County Total: 320,936

*Bridgeport (city) 143,555
*Stamford (*) 40,067
*Norwalk (city) 27,743
*Danbury (*) 22,325
*Greenwich 22,123
*Stratford 12,347
*Fairfield 11,475
*Shelton (city) 9,475
*Westport 5,114
*Darien 4,184
*New Canaan 3,895
*Bethel 3,201
*Newtown 2,751
*Ridgefield 2,707
*Trumbull 2,597
*Redding 1,315
*Wilton 1,284
*Monroe 1,161
*Easton 1,017
*Brookfield 896
*Weston 703
*Sherman 533
*New Fairfield 468