Plymouth County, Massachusetts

Plymouth County is a located in the  of. As of 2000, the population was 472,822. Its s are and. The executive authority of the County government is vested in the County Commissioners. The current Commissioners are  (D- ),  (D- ), and  (D- ). (D- )  (D- ) and   (R- ), also serve as elected officials of the county of Plymouth.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 2,832 (1,093 ). 1,712 km² (661 sq mi) of it is land and 1,120 km² (433 sq mi) of it (39.56%) is water.

Adjacent Counties

 * (northwest)
 * (southeast)
 * (west)

Plymouth County has no land border with to the north, but the two counties share a water boundary in the middle of.

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 472,822 people, 168,361 households, and 122,398 families residing in the county. The was 276/km² (716/sq mi). There were 181,524 housing units at an average density of 106/km² (275/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 88.70%, 4.56% or , 0.21% , 0.92% , 0.02% , 3.06% from , and 2.52% from two or more races. 2.44% of the population were or  of any race. 28.0% were of, 12.8% , 10.6% and 5.1%  ancestry according to. 90.1% spoke, 2.5% , 2.3% , 1.5% and 1.0%  as their first language.

There were 168,361 households out of which 36.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.00% were living together, 11.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.30% were non-families. 22.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.74 and the average family size was 3.23.

In the county the population was spread out with 26.80% under the age of 18, 7.20% from 18 to 24, 30.40% from 25 to 44, 23.90% from 45 to 64, and 11.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 95.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.30 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $55,615, and the median income for a family was $65,554. Males had a median income of $45,535 versus $31,389 for females. The for the county was $24,789. About 4.90% of families and 6.60% of the population were below the, including 8.30% of those under age 18 and 7.90% of those age 65 or over.

The leading ancestry group in Plymouth County is Irish, with 31%. Plymouth County, along with, claims the highest percentage of people with Irish ancestry in the United States.

County Seal
The was adopted by the Plymouth County Commissioners on March 31, 1931 under the authority of the General Laws, Chapter 34, Section 14, and was designed by Frederic T. Bailey of North Scituate who was, at that time and for many years, Chairman of the county commissioners.

Cities, towns, and villages*
*  Villages are census division, but have no separate corporate existence from the towns they are in.
 *  (a village of Bridgewater)
 *  (a village of Bridgewater)
 *  (a village of Bridgewater)
 *  (a village of Duxbury)
 *  (a village of Duxbury)
 *  (a village of Hanson)
 *  (a village of Lakeville)
 *  (a village of Marion)
 *  (a village of Marshfield)
 *  (a village of Marshfield)
 *  (a village of Marshfield)
 *  (a village of Marshfield)
 *  (a village of Mattapoisett)
 *  (a village of Middleborough)
 *  (a village of Middleborough)
 *  (a village of Pembroke)
 *  (a village of Plymouth)
 *  (a village of Plymouth)
 *  (a village of Scituate)
 *  (a village of Scituate)
 *  (a village of Wareham)
 *  (a village of Wareham)
 *  (a village of Wareham)
 *  (a village of Wareham)
 *  (a village of Marshfield)
 *  (a village of Marshfield)
 *  (a village of Marshfield)
 *  (a village of Mattapoisett)
 *  (a village of Middleborough)
 *  (a village of Middleborough)
 *  (a village of Pembroke)
 *  (a village of Plymouth)
 *  (a village of Plymouth)
 *  (a village of Scituate)
 *  (a village of Scituate)
 *  (a village of Wareham)
 *  (a village of Wareham)
 *  (a village of Wareham)
 *  (a village of Wareham)
 *  (a village of Scituate)
 *  (a village of Scituate)
 *  (a village of Wareham)
 *  (a village of Wareham)
 *  (a village of Wareham)
 *  (a village of Wareham)
 *  (a village of Wareham)
 *  (a village of Wareham)
 *  (a village of Wareham)
 *  (a village of Wareham)