Westchester Tops 1 Million Residents In 2020 Census

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY — After months of saying he expected Westchester County's population to top 1 million after the 2020 Census was released, County Executive George Latimer said it's now official.

As of April 1, 2020, there were 1,004,457 people living in Westchester County, according to the 2020 Census. That's a 5.8 percent increase from 2010.

"I always knew we were a big County, big in culture, big in business, big in life and now also big in population," Latimer said in a prepared statement.

"No one is fleeing this county," he said, "they are coming here to be part of Westchester."

Latimer said the Census news continued a "good news" trend for the county.

"Our economy is thriving, businesses both small and large are growing, crime is down, and our vaccination rate is among the highest in the state," he said.

Westchester's population, according to official Census numbers:

• 2010: 949,113
• 2000: 923,459
• 1990: 874,866
• 1980: 866,599

Commissioner of Planning Norma Drummond said the county's role in navigating the 2020 Census was unprecedented compared to previous decennial counts.

The Census portal opened March 12, 2020, while the county was ginning to battle the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We took hold of this challenge and didn't leave the work to the Census Bureau and municipalities," Drummond said.

"Westchester's success in achieving a higher percentage of self-response was partly due to the work done well in advance of 2020 to ensure the Census Bureau had more accurate addresses to reach out to," she said.

"The results of the county's efforts show the hard work paid off," Drummond said.

Like Hudson Valley Patches' Facebook Pages.