Historical United States Census totals for Hampden County, Massachusetts

This article shows U.S. Census totals for Hampden County, Massachusetts, broken down by municipality, from 1900 to 2010.

Like most areas of New England, Hampden County is (and has been at all times since well before the 20th century) entirely divided into incorporated municipalities. There is no unincorporated territory. For any census, adding up the totals for each municipality should yield the county total.

There are two types of municipalities in Massachusetts, towns and cities. The tables below differentiate between towns and cities.

For more information on the New England municipal system, see New England town.

Corporate changes since 1900

1900

County Total: 175,603

1910

County Total: 231,369

1920

County Total: 300,305

1930

County Total: 335,496

1940

County Total: 332,107

1950

County Total: 367,971

1960

County Total: 429,353

1970

County Total: 459,050

1980

County Total: 443,108

1990

County Total: 456,310

2000

County Total: 456,228


2010

County Total: 463,490



Notes

Special note regarding Agawam and West Springfield

Agawam and West Springfield are among eleven municipalities in Massachusetts whose status as towns or cities is a matter of some ambiguity. This ambiguity is the result of questions around the legal status of towns which have since the 1970s, through home-rule petition, adopted forms of government that resemble city government and do not include the elements traditionally associated with town government (e.g., a board of selectmen, a town meeting). Of the eleven communities that have done so, all but one have generally continued to use the title "town" and are usually referred to by residents as "towns", but the Massachusetts Secretary of State's Office considers all eleven to be legally cities. Other sources within state government often refer to all eleven municipalities as towns, however. Massachusetts seems to be the only New England state where this type of issue has arisen, even though other New England states also have municipalities which have adopted what amount to city forms of government but continue to call themselves "towns". In the other states, it does not appear that any need to officially label such municipalities as "cities" has been identified.

For purposes of the New England town page and its attendant pages, the ten affected communities which call themselves "towns", including Agawam and West Springfield, are classified as towns. The reader should be aware, however, that some sources will identify these municipalities as cities. Agawam adopted its present form of government in 1973, West Springfield in 2000.

The Census Bureau has been inconsistent in its handling of these municipalities. The Census Bureau listed all as towns through the 1990 Census. For the 2000 Census, some were inexplicably listed as towns and some as cities, a situation which continues in current Census materials. In the 2000 Census, Agawam was one of those listed as a city. West Springfield was listed as a town in the 2000 Census; since 2002 it has been shown as a city in current Census materials.

See also

External links

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