Bristol County, By Population

Town by town population totals, and notes on population growth for Bristol County.

We also did Plymouth County, and may yet do Barnstable County.

Bristol County, 548,225

New Bedford, 95,315 (2018 estimate)

Fall River, 89,661

Taunton, 57,296

Attleboro, 45,117

Dartmouth, 34,032 (2010 census)

North Attleboro, 28,712 (2000 census)

Mansfield, 23,184 (2010)

Easton, 23,112

Norton, 19,031

Somerset, 18,165

Fairhaven, 15,873

Swansea, 15,865

Westport, 15,532

Seekonk, 14,371

Raynham, 13,383

Rehoboth, 11,608

Acushnet, 10,303

Freetown, 8,870

Dighton, 7,086

Berkley, 6,411

NOTES

-Westport had a population of 4100 in 1940. One baby boom later, they had 13000 and change by 1980.

- Swansea had a similar boom, but the greatest (69%) population increase they ever had was from 1920-1930. They added 1600 people to a town of 2300 people.

- Somerset net-lost 700 people between 1980 and 2010.

- The last decade where Seekonk failed to show a population gain was during the Civil War. Route 195's construction figures into this.

- Since 1900, Rehoboth has had positive population growth. They have doubled in size since 1965, not that unusual on the South Shore where people were fleeing Boston, but most of the growth in Rehoboth was post 1980. That is quite different from the South Shore.

- Raynham tripled in size since 1960, but unlike Rehoboth, most of her growth happened between 1960 and 1970.

- Norton doubled in size between 1960 and 1986, with very South Shore-styled post 1970 expansion.

- North Attleboro had her largest population growth by percentage between 1900 and 1910

- Mansfield has had double digit population growth almost every decade of her existence. The only off decades were the Great Depression, WWII and the Bush Recession.

- Freetown has quadrupled in size since 1950, and that is with negative population growth between 2000 and 2010. They lost 50 people during that time.

- Fairhaven has 500 less people now than they did in 1970.

- Easton is ten times more populated than they were in 1850.

- It would take about 9 Dightons to fill every seat in Gillette Stadium.

- Dartmouth fits her population into the third largest land area for a town in Massachusetts. She is 16 miles wide from Freetown to Buzzards Bay. Only Plymouth and Middleboro have more land.

- Berkley is the smallest town by population in Bristol County, although she is not the smallest in SE Massachusetts. She is bigger than Plympton, Marion, Rochester, and Mattapoisett. She is also larger than winter versions of Provincetown, Truro, Wellfleet, Eastham, Orleans and Chatham.

- Acushnet had two decades of 30-35% population growth between 1950 and 1970, and still only had 7700 people.

- The baby boom skipped Taunton, which only gained 3000 people to a town of 43000 between 1940 and 1960. Easton, by contrast, almost tripled in size during the same period.

- Fall River had 90% population growth between 1860 and 1870, during the Industrial Revolution. They presently have less people than they did in 1895.

- Attleboro is 20 times more populated than it was in 1790.

- New Bedford net-lost 26,000 people between 1920 and 2018.

- Bristol County has never posted decade-to-decade population loss. Her greatest rate of growth was between 1870 and 1900, when she tripled in size.