List of counties in Connecticut

There are eight counties in the U.S. state of Connecticut.

Counties of Connecticut
Location	State of Connecticut
Number	8
Populations	116,418 (Windham) – 957,419 (Fairfield)
Areas	369 square miles (960 km2) (Middlesex) – 920 square miles (2,400 km2) (Litchfield)
Government	County government (abolished in 1960, except for County Sheriffs, which were abolished by an act of the state legislature effective in 2000)
Subdivisions	cities, towns, unincorporated communities, census designated place[a]

Map of the counties of colonial Connecticut, 1766.

Four of the counties – Fairfield, Hartford, New Haven and New London – were created in 1666, shortly after the Connecticut Colony and the New Haven Colony combined. Windham and Litchfield counties were created later in the colonial era, while Middlesex and Tolland counties were created after American independence (both in 1785). Six of the counties are named for locations in England, where many early Connecticut settlers originated; Fairfield County was named after the salt marshes that bordered the coast, while New Haven County was named for the New Haven Colony.^[1]

Although Connecticut is divided into counties, there are no county-level governments, and local government in Connecticut exists solely at the municipal level.^[2] Almost all functions of county government were abolished in Connecticut in 1960,^[3] except for elected county sheriffs and their departments under them. Those offices and their departments were abolished by an act of the state legislature effective in December 2000. The functions the county sheriffs' departments played were assumed by the newly organized State Marshal Commission and the Connecticut Department of Corrections.^[4]

These counties are used in legacy geography, such as identifying land, national statistics, and personnel rostering and court jurisdictions in the state's judicial and state marshal system. However, the three most populous—Fairfield, Hartford and New Haven—are as to many types of jurisdiction subdivided.^[5]

In 2019 the state recommended to the United States Census Bureau that the nine Councils of Governments replace its counties for statistical purposes. According to the Census Bureau, "Connecticut's COGs/Planning Regions have the authority to carry out administrative functions that are typically found among counties in other states."^[6] This proposal was approved by the Census Bureau in 2022, and will be fully implemented by 2024.^[7]

U.S. Census Bureau

Comparison of county boundaries to planning regions^[8]

The United States Census Bureau formally recognized the planning regions/councils of government as county equivalents in the Federal Register on June 6, 2022. A draft notice of potential recognition would have adapted the existing FIPS codes for the eight "legacy counties", however in response to submitted comments, the bureau retired the codes and assigned new ones to more clearly illustrate the break in geographic continuity. The Census noted that there is substantial correlation between the historic county borders and planning regions, however planning regions may incorporate towns from several counties. The bureau notes that the recognition of planning regions as county equivalents was unique to the specific conditions in Connecticut, and would not constitute a binding precedent on similar conditions in other states.^[9]

Alphabetical listing

County	FIPS code[10]	Seat[b][12]	Est.[12]	Origin[1]	Etymology[13]	Population[14]	Area[12]	Map
Fairfield County	001	Bridgeport	1666	original county	From the hundreds of acres of salt marsh that bordered the coast.	959,768	626 sq mi (1,621 km2)
Hartford County	003	Hartford	1666	original county	After Hertford, England (still said Hartford)	896,854	736 sq mi (1,906 km2)
Litchfield County	005	Litchfield	1751	From parts of Fairfield, Hartford and New Haven Counties	City of Lichfield, Staffordshire, England	185,000	920 sq mi (2,383 km2)
Middlesex County	007	Middletown	1785	From parts of Hartford and New London Counties	Former county of Middlesex, England	164,759	369 sq mi (956 km2)
New Haven County	009	New Haven	1666	original county	After New Haven Colony, founded as a haven in which Puritans could be free from persecution.	863,700	606 sq mi (1,570 km2)
New London County	011	New London	1666	original county	After London, England	268,805	666 sq mi (1,725 km2)
Tolland County	013	Rockville	1785	From parts of Hartford and Windham Counties	Hamlet of Tolland, Somerset, England	150,293	410 sq mi (1,062 km2)
Windham County	015	Willimantic	1726	From parts of Hartford and New London Counties	Either after Windham (now Wineham) in Sussex or Windham (now Wymondham, still said Windham) in Norfolk, England	116,418	513 sq mi (1,329 km2)

Former counties

Both were extraterritorial:

• Trumbull County, the Connecticut Western Reserve, ceded to Ohio in 1800
• Westmoreland County, Connecticut around Wilkes-Barre, ceded to Pennsylvania in 1784

Notes

1. All land in Connecticut is covered by an incorporated city or town. County borders match constituent city and town borders. See Local government in Connecticut
2. Officially, Connecticut has no county seats.^[11] The listed communities are instead historical county seats.

References

1. Clark, George Larkin (1914). A History of Connecticut: Its People and Institutions. G. P. Putnam's Sons. p. 1. a history of Connecticut.
2. An Overview of County Government Archived July 8, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, National Association of Counties website, accessed January 5, 2008
3. https://www.cga.ct.gov/PS98/rpt%5Colr%5Chtm/98-R-0086.htm#:~:text=Because%20the%20state%20and%20local,a%20viable%20source%20of%20government. "Because the state and local governments had historically wielded substantial authority within Connecticut, county governments never achieved the authority needed to gain a stronghold as a viable source of government."
4. "State Marshals Directory - CT Judicial Branch".
5. "Connecticut Judicial District Map". jud.ct.gov. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
6. "Proposed Change to County Equivalents in Connecticut" (PDF). US Census Bureau.
7. https://portal.ct.gov/Office-of-the-Governor/News/Press-Releases/2022/06-2022/Governor-Lamont-Announces-Census-Bureau-Approves-Proposal-for-Planning-Regions Governor Lamont Announces U.S. Census Bureau Approves Proposal for Connecticut's Planning Regions To Become County Equivalents
8. "Change to County-Equivalents in the State of Connecticut". Federal Register. June 6, 2022. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
9. "Change to County-Equivalents in the State of Connecticut". Federal Register. June 6, 2022. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
10. "EPA County FIPS Code Listing". EPA.gov. Archived from the original on October 7, 2012. Retrieved February 23, 2008.
11. "Connecticut State Register and Manual, Section VI: Counties". Connecticut Official State Website (Office of Secretary of State).
12. National Association of Counties. "NACo – Find a county". Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved April 30, 2008.
13. Beatty, Michael (2001). County Name Origins of the United States. McFarland Press. ISBN 0-7864-1025-6.
14. "Connecticut QuickFacts". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved March 31, 2022.