Hampden County, Massachusetts

Hampden County is a located in the  of the  of. As of 2004, the population is 461,228. Its is.

Law and government
Like an increasing number of Massachusetts counties, Hampden County exists today only as a historical geographic region, and has no county government. All former county functions were assumed by state agencies in 1998. The sheriff and some other regional officials with specific duties are still elected locally to perform duties within the county region, but there is no county council or commissioner. Communities are now granted the right to form their own regional compacts for sharing services. See also: MassGov page on counties.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,642 (634 ). 1,602 km² (618 sq mi) of it is land and 41 km² (16 sq mi) of it (2.48%) is water.

Adjacent Counties

 * (north)
 * (east)
 * (southeast)
 * (south)
 * (southwest)
 * (west)

Demographics
As of the of, there were 461,228 people, 175,288 households, and 115,690 families residing in the county. The was 285/km² (738/sq mi). There were 185,876 housing units at an average density of 116/km² (301/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 79.10%, 8.10% or , 0.26% , 1.30% , 0.07% , 8.85% from , and 2.32% from two or more races. 15.17% of the population were or  of any race. 13.3% were of, 10.9% , 10.2% , 9.6% , 7.5% and 5.6%  ancestry according to. 77.9% spoke, 13.0% , 1.8% , 1.6% , 1.4% and 1.0%  as their first language.

There were 175,288 households out of which 31.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.80% were living together, 15.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.00% were non-families. 28.40% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.10.

In the county the population was spread out with 26.10% under the age of 18, 9.20% from 18 to 24, 28.40% from 25 to 44, 21.90% from 45 to 64, and 14.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 91.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.70 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $39,718, and the median income for a family was $49,257. Males had a median income of $37,676 versus $27,621 for females. The for the county was $19,541. About 11.40% of families and 14.70% of the population were below the, including 22.70% of those under age 18 and 9.60% of those age 65 or over.

Cities, towns, subdivisions and villages*
*  Villages are census division, but have no separate corporate existence from the towns they are in.
 *  (a village of Monson)
 * (now named Chester)
 *  (a village of Palmer)
 *  (a village of Palmer)
 *  (a village of Palmer)
 *  (a village of Palmer)
 *  (a subdivision of Springfield)
 *  (a northeastern neighborhood subdivision of Springfield)
 *  (southern portion of Springfield}
 *  (Springfield's suburban neighborhood)
 *  (a village of Monson)
 * (now named Chester)
 *  (a village of Palmer)
 *  (a village of Palmer)
 *  (a village of Palmer)
 *  (a village of Palmer)
 *  (a subdivision of Springfield)
 *  (a northeastern neighborhood subdivision of Springfield)
 *  (southern portion of Springfield}
 *  (Springfield's suburban neighborhood)
 *  (a village of Palmer)
 *  (a subdivision of Springfield)
 *  (a northeastern neighborhood subdivision of Springfield)
 *  (southern portion of Springfield}
 *  (Springfield's suburban neighborhood)
 *  (a northeastern neighborhood subdivision of Springfield)
 *  (southern portion of Springfield}
 *  (Springfield's suburban neighborhood)