Norfolk County, Massachusetts

Norfolk County is a located in the  of. As of 2000, the population was 650,308. Its is. It is also ranked #28 in the Top 100 list of with a per capita income of $32,484.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,150 (444 ). 1,035 km² (400 sq mi) of it is land and 115 km² (44 sq mi) of it (10%) is water. The county is not fully contiguous; the towns of and  are part of Norfolk County but are separated from the majority of Norfolk County by either water or other counties. At the county's formation, and  were to be part of it, but joined  instead, leaving Cohasset as an  of Plymouth County. Brookline became an of Norfolk County in 1873 when the neighboring town of  was annexed by  (thus leaving Norfolk County to join ) and Brookline refused to be annexed by Boston after the.

Adjacent Counties

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Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 650,308 people, 248,827 households, and 165,967 families residing in the county. The was 628/km² (1,628/sq mi). There were 255,154 housing units at an average density of 247/km² (639/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 89.02%, 3.18% or , 0.13% , 5.50% , 0.02% , 0.78% from , and 1.37% from two or more races. 1.84% of the population were or  of any race. 28.6% were of, 13.4% , 7.7% and 5.0%  ancestry according to. 85.7% spoke, 2.3% or , 2.0% , 1.0%  and 1.0%  as their first language.

There were 248,827 households out of which 31.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.20% were living together, 9.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.30% were non-families. 26.80% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 3.14.

In the county the population was spread out with 23.40% under the age of 18, 7.00% from 18 to 24, 31.60% from 25 to 44, 23.50% from 45 to 64, and 14.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 91.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.60 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $63,432, and the median income for a family was $77,847. Males had a median income of $51,301 versus $37,108 for females. The for the county was $32,484. About 2.90% of families and 4.60% of the population were below the, including 4.40% of those under age 18 and 5.70% of those age 65 or over.

Cities, towns, and villages
*  Villages are census divisions, but have no separate corporate existence from the towns they are in.
 * (a village of Millis)
 * (a village of Millis)
 * (a village of Millis)
 * (a village of Millis)
 * (a village of Millis)
 * (a village of Millis)
 * (a village of Millis)
 * (a village of Millis)
 * (a village of Millis)
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 * (a village of Millis)
 * (a village of Millis)
 * (a village of Millis)
 * (a village of Millis)
 * (a village of Millis)

Trivia
Norfolk County, Massachusetts is the birthplace of four of the 42 individuals who have held the office of President of the United States:, , , and. This has resulted in the moniker "County of Presidents." During the Bush presidency, it was the birthplace of four of the then 40 Presidents, a full ten percent.

It is the birthplace of both of the major parties' (Republican and Democratic) candidates in the 1988 U.S. Presidential election, Bush and.

As noted above under geography, it is non-contiguous, having not one, but two, outlying exclaves, the town of, surrounded by  and , and the town of , surrounded by  and the ocean. Brookline was separated when the former towns of and  were annexed by Boston and became part of Suffolk County. (See for the circumstances under which the other exclave was created.)

It is the second Massachusetts county to bear the same name. The defunct "Old" Norfolk County, which was in a different part of the state, existed in the early colonial period in the seventeenth century. (See .)