New York Population 2023

New York State is the fourth largest state in the United States of America based on our latest projections. Florida recently became the third most populous state, passing New York in 2014 and pushing The Empire State to 4th in the United States. The recent official estimates from July 2015 put New York's population at 19,795,791. This estimate represents a 2.1% increase since 2010.

New York Area and Population Density

New York State has an overall population density of 421 people per square mile, with an area of 47,126 square miles. When most people think of New York, they immediately think of New York City, the largest city in the US.

New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the country. Nearly 43% of New York state's population live in the 305 square miles that comprise New York City. The next largest city in the state of New York is Buffalo, with just over 250,000 residents. This means New York City is over 33 times larger than the second largest city in New York. New York's state capital Albany is home to just under 100 thousand residents.

The most populated counties in New York are Kings County (2,648,771), Queens County (2,358,582), and New York County (1,664,727).

New York Gender and Religion Statistics

With such a diverse population, New York State also has a large number of religions that are practiced within it. Seventy percent of its inhabitants are Christians, including 39% Roman Catholic, 7% Baptist, 6% Methodist and 2% Pentecostal amongst the dominant believers. Other major religions include Judaism (9%), Islamic (6%) and Buddhism (1%), while 17% of New York's inhabitants have no set religious ideologies to follow.

People from all races and creeds live in the state of New York, and the different ethnic identities have led to a rich cultural diversity in this region. With more and more people entering New York for jobs and other opportunities, this diversity is only going to grow, giving New York a richer cultural identity than it already fosters.

New York officially reports a rich ethnic diversity as people from over 200 nationalities were counted to be a part of New York. This includes people of Portuguese, German, Dutch, Russian, Swedish and Greek ancestry. Moreover, the Albany, southeast and central areas of New York are pre-dominantly Italian American and Irish American. There are also a large number of German Americans in the western areas of New York, as well as French Canadians who reside in the northern end of New York.

The median age of the population residing in New York is 38.2 years of age. The ratio of females to males in the state is approximately 51.5% females to 48.5% males.

New York Boundary, Census, and Statehood History

New York was one of the 13 original States. Since relinquishing its claims to Vermont in 1791, it has had substantially its present boundaries. Census coverage excluded Vermont in 1790, and did not include the far western part of the State until 1800.

New York Population History

Although the population has been steadily growing, it has been at a much slower rate than other large states. New York used to be the 4th most populous state, but it was surpassed by Florida in 2014.

New York Population Growth

New York's growth is expected to continue to grow over the next few decades, although much more slowly than mosts states. By 2020, it is estimated that the current population of 19.795 million will increase by nearly a quarter-million, pushing the population over 20 million.

New York Population Projections

New York State as a whole has been experiencing a lot of out-migration to other states over the past decade, losing citizens to other states. The losses have mostly been from Upstate New York, which has balanced the growth in New York City to keep the population relatively stagnant. This trend is expected to continue and the overall population likely won't change much in the coming years.

New York has a high percentage of foreign born residents. According to data from 2004, over 20% of the state's total population was classified as foreign born. This is even higher in New York City, where 36% of the city's population is foreign-born. This is the highest percentage of any city in the United States.

The state of New York has the 2nd highest population of Asian Americans in the nation. Percentage-wise, the state ranks 6th when compared to the other 49 states. New York's total population of African Americans ranks as 2nd in the nation, while it ranks 13th in terms of percentage of African Americans.

This state has a lot of diversity as well. The high percentage of Hispanics in the state are mainly comprised of Puerto Ricans. New York has the highest population of Puerto Ricans in the country. The state also has the largest population of Dominicans. New York also has a rapidly growing population of Bangladeshi Americans and Pakistani Americans. Ancestry groups in the state include Italian Americans, who make up 15.8% of the population, African American, Hispanic, Irish and German, amongst others.

• Fort Orange was settled in 1624, and it was the first permanent non-native settlement in the colony that is now New York.
• The state was originally settled by the Dutch, who ruled it for forty years. The area was originally called "New Netherland."
• The first US capital was located in New York, and the first President George Washington took his oath of office at Federal Hall.
• It became known as the "Empire State" because of New York's resources and wealth.
• The capital of New York, Albany, holds the honor of being the longest continuously chartered city in the country.
• From 1805 to 1962, New York was the most populous state in the US before being overtaken by California.