Hempstead is the most populous town in the state of New York. It is the largest of the three towns within Nassau County (alongside North Hempstead and Oyster Bay), located on Long Island, immediately east of southern Queens. The population was 793,409 at the time of the 2020 United States census, and its highest decennial census count ever was back in the 1970 United States census, where the town recorded a population of 801,592, which also made it the ninth largest municipality in the country by population at that time.
The town occupies the southwestern part of Nassau County, on western Long Island. A total of 22 incorporated villages (one of which is named Hempstead) are completely or partially within the town.
Hofstra University's campus is located in Hempstead.
History The town was first settled around 1644 following the establishment of a treaty between English colonists, John Carman and Robert Fordham, and the Lenape Indians in 1643. Although the settlers were from the new English colony of New Haven (established in 1638), later incorporated into Connecticut (1662), a patent was issued by the government of New Netherland after the settlers had purchased land from the local natives. This transaction is depicted in a mural in the Hempstead Village Hall, reproduced from a poster commemorating the 300th anniversary of Hempstead Village.
In local Dutch-language documents of the 1640s and later, the town was invariably called Heemstede,J.A. Jacobs, The Colony of New Netherland: A Dutch Settlement in Seventeenth Century America, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, pages 87, 268, 273-4 and several of Hempstead's original 50 patentees were Dutch, suggesting that Hempstead was named after the Dutch town and/or castle of the same name, both of which are located near the cities of Haarlem and Amsterdam. However, the authorities possibly had Dutchified a name given by co-founder John Carman, who was born in 1606 in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England, on land owned by his ancestors since the 13th century.
In 1664, the settlement under the new Province of New York adopted the Duke's Laws, austere statutes that became the basis upon which the laws of many colonies were to be founded. For a time, Hempstead became known as "Old Blue", as a result of the "Blue Laws". The Census of slaves, conducted in the Province of New York in 1755, lists more than 100 enslaved individuals in Hempstead.
During the American Revolution, the Loyalists in the south and the American sympathizers in the north caused a split in 1784 into "North Hempstead" and "South Hempstead". South Hempstead was renamed to Hempstead in 1796.
Richard Hewlett, who was born in Hempstead, served as a Lieutenant Colonel with the British Army under General Oliver De Lancey in the American Revolution. Afterwards, Hewlett departed the United States with other Loyalists and settled in the newly created Province of New Brunswick in what later became Canada. A settlement there was named Hampstead, in Queen's County next to Long Island in the Saint John River.
With the 1898 incorporation of the Borough of Queens as part of the City of Greater New York, and the 1899 split of Queens County to create Nassau County, some southwestern portions of the Town of Hempstead – namely, the Rockaway Peninsula west of (and including) the former Village of Far Rockaway – seceded from the town and became part of the Borough of Queens.
In 1945, the Town of Hempstead conveyed of its territory to Queens, in turn shifting a southern portion of the New York City–Nassau County border slightly east, from the northern coast of the Head of Bay of Jamaica Bay and land border near the eastern coast of Bayswater into the middle of the Head of Bay and Mott Basin. This adjustment was made so as to both straighten the boundary line and to ensure that the entirety of the proposed New York International Airport (since renamed as John F. Kennedy International Airport) would be located within New York City. This boundary change was ultimately effectuated on April 20, 1945.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 191.3 square miles (495.5 km2), of which 120.0 square miles (310.7 km2) is land and 71.4 square miles (184.8 km2) – or 37.30% – is water.
The western town line is Nassau County's border with Queens County in New York City. Its northern border, with the Town of North Hempstead and the town of Oyster Bay, is along the Main Line of the Long Island Rail Road and along Old Country Road in Garden City heading east towards the Wantagh Parkway. Its eastern border, also with the town of Oyster Bay, runs parallel to (and several hundred feet west of) Route 107. To the south is the Atlantic Ocean, off of Atlantic Beach, Lido Beach, Point Lookout, and Jones Beach, as well as the city of Long Beach.
The most popular beach on the east coast of the United States, Jones Beach State Park, is located in Hempstead. The beach is a popular destination for Long Islanders and residents of New York. The beach itself receives approximately six million visitors per year.
Communities The town of Hempstead contains 22 villages and 38 hamlets:
Villages
Atlantic Beach Bellerose Cedarhurst East Rockaway Floral Park (small part in North Hempstead) Freeport Garden City (small part in North Hempstead) Hempstead (village) Hewlett Bay Park Hewlett Harbor Hewlett Neck Island Park Lawrence Lynbrook Malverne Mineola (almost all in North Hempstead) New Hyde Park (part; northern half in North Hempstead) Rockville Centre South Floral Park Stewart Manor Valley Stream Woodsburgh
Hamlets
Baldwin Baldwin Harbor Barnum Island Bay Park Bellerose Terrace Bellmore Bethpage (almost all in Oyster Bay) East Atlantic Beach East Garden City East Meadow Elmont Franklin Square Garden City South Harbor Isle Hewlett Inwood Lakeview Levittown Lido Beach Malverne Park Oaks Merrick Munson North Bellmore North Lynbrook North Merrick North Valley Stream North Wantagh North Woodmere Oceanside Point Lookout Roosevelt Salisbury (South Westbury) Seaford South Hempstead South Valley Stream Uniondale Wantagh West Hempstead Woodmere
In addition, there are a few areas that are not part of any incorporated village or census-designated place: Jones Beach Island and nearby uninhabited islands in South Oyster Bay A small area between Lynbrook and Rockville Centre that contains only Rockville Cemetery
Demographics
Race and ethnic composition +Hempstead town, New York – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 1980Pop 1990Pop 2000Pop 2010Pop 2020% 1980% 1990% 2000% 2010% 2020White alone (NH)637,755575,755521,352454,883402,46686.36%79.34%68.97%59.87%50.73%Black or African American alone (NH)66,82483,268107,929119,480125,8399.05%11.48%14.28%15.73%15.86%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)5468679299131,1390.07%0.12%0.12%0.12%0.14%Asian alone (NH)7,90616,95726,42739,08459,5251.07%2.34%3.50%5.14%7.50%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)1601171720.02%0.02%0.02%Other race alone (NH)6432,0753,3088,2730.09%0.27%0.44%1.04%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)xx10,3959,81821,112xx1.38%1.29%2.66%Hispanic or Latino (any race)25,48648,14986,657132,154174,8833.45%6.64%11.46%17.39%22.04%Total738,517725,639755,924759,757793,409 100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%
2019 data The 2019 American Community Survey determined the population of the town of Hempstead was 759,793. The racial and ethnic makeup of the town was 54.0% non-Hispanic white, 17.4% Black or African American, 0.3% American Indian or Alaska Native, 6.2% Asian, 3.7% multiracial, and 20.9% Hispanic or Latin American of any race.
Of the population, there were 244,203 households and there was an owner-occupied housing rate of 80.8%. The average household size was 3.10 and the population was made of 22.7% foreign-born residents. In 2019, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated the median value of an owner-occupied housing unit was $455,700 and the median gross rent of rented units at $1,678. Residents of the town had a combined median household income of $111,072 and per capita of $44,958. Of the population in 2019, 6.0% lived at or below the poverty line.
2010 census As of the census of 2010, there were 759,757 people, 246,828 households, and 193,513 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 252,286 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 59.9% White, 16.5% Black, 0.3% Native American, 5.2% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 4.5% from other races, and 2.2% from two or more races. Hispanic and Latin Americans of any race were 17.4% of the population.
There were 246,828 households, out of which 36.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.2% were married couples living together, 12.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.6% were non-families. 18.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.02 and the average family size was 3.41.
In the town, the population was spread out, with 25.4% under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 29.2% from 25 to 44, 23.4% from 45 to 64, and 14.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.2 males.
According to a 2007 estimate, the median income for a household in the town was $84,362, and the median income for a family was $96,080. Males had a median income of $50,818 versus $36,334 for females. The per capita income for the town was $28,153. About 4.0% of families and 5.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.6% of those under age 18 and 5.7% of those age 65 or over.
Economy Lufthansa United States had its headquarters in East Meadow,"Contact us". SWISS USA. Retrieved on January 29, 2011. "1640 Hempstead Turnpike East Meadow, NY""Ticket copy request." Lufthansa. Retrieved on January 29, 2011. "1640 Hempstead Turnpike East Meadow, NY 11554.""East Meadow CDP, New York." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on January 29, 2011. beginning in the 1970s, after it moved from Park Avenue in Manhattan, in order to save money. In 2019, the office had 206 employees; that year the headquarters moved to Uniondale.
At one time Swiss International Air Lines operated its United States office at 776 RexCorp Plaza in the EAB Plaza in Uniondale. The airline moved from 41 Pinelawn Road in Melville, Suffolk County around 2002."Contact Us SWISS USA." Swiss International Air Lines. Retrieved on January 20, 2009.Anastasi, Nick. "SwissAir USA HQ heads to market.(Swiss International Airlines moves to Uniondale)." Long Island Business News. June 7, 2002. Retrieved on January 25, 2009.
Snapple was previously headquartered in East Meadow,"Snapple history." Snapple Beverage Corporation History. Retrieved on September 24, 2012. prior to moving their corporate office. The office space is now currently occupied by the Epilepsy Foundation of Long Island."Epilepsy Foundation to revamp former Snapple HQ". Long Island Business News. Retrieved on September 24, 2012.
Government
Town government As of 2025, the Town of Hempstead is headed by John R. Ferretti, Jr. (R–Levittown). The responsibilities of the office include presiding over meetings of the Town Council and directing the legislative and administrative function of that body. The position also entails creating and implementing the town's budget. One famous former supervisor was Republican Alfonse D'Amato, who later represented New York in the United States Senate from 1981 to 1999.