Hempstead Village lost 133 people in 1 year, census data shows

Hempstead Village had the largest population loss — just over 100 people — between 2018 and 2019, but the village also had the largest population gain of any of Long Island's 96 incorporated villages and two cities since 2010, according to a Newsday analysis of census data released Thursday.

Hempstead Village's loss during the one-year period was highest among the Island's villages and cities, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2019 population estimates. Hempstead is also the state's largest village with a 2019 population of 55,113.

The gains and losses during the one-year period were generally small overall.

Hempstead Village's population declined by 133 people between 2018 and 2019, according to the estimates. Other villages with the highest losses during the one-year period include: Freeport (-93); Valley Stream (-87), Lindenhurst (-83) and the city of Glen Cove (-52).

But Hempstead Village also saw a growth in population since the 2010 Census, according to the census data that traced population estimates from 2010 to 2019. Hempstead gained 1,222 people since 2010, the largest numerical increase of any of the villages.

The other villages with the largest gains since 2010 included the Nassau County communities of North Hills, with an increase of 894 people; Farmingdale, 813; Rockville Centre, 527; and Patchogue in Suffolk County, at 523.

The villages with the largest losses since 2010 include: Lindenhurst (-452), Babylon (-174), Northport (-128), Amityville (-124) and Lake Grove (-107). All are in Suffolk, which has suffered steeper population losses than Nassau in recent years, according to census data.

The estimates also covered Long Island's 13 towns. Nassau's three towns: Hempstead, North Hempstead and Oyster Bay, showed modest increases between 2010 and 2019. 

Five of Suffolk's 10 towns — Babylon, Brookhaven, Huntington, Islip and Smithtown — showed decreases in population between 2010 and 2019, ranging from 1,700 to nearly 6,000; while a sixth — Riverhead — had a negligible decline of 37 people during the period.

The population estimates for cities and villages follows census data released in March for counties. Nassau County's 2019 population was estimated at 1,356,924, down slightly from 1,357,534 in 2018. Suffolk's 2019 population was 1,476,601, down from 1,480,830 the year before.

Jan Vink, a researcher with Cornell University's Program on Applied Demographics, which is part of the Federal State Cooperative on Population Estimates, said in an email, "Keep in mind that the population in the cities and towns add up to the County estimates that were released in March. Within a county the population is distributed using estimates of the number of housing units in each town/city and the Group Quarters population. In most counties all the towns/cities will more or less follow the county pattern."

Demographers have cited a decline in international migration, domestic migrants leaving Long Island and the greater New York metro area, along with a trend of declining births as negatively impacting the region's population growth. Nevertheless, New York City remains the nation's most populous city, with an estimated 8.3 million people, followed by Los Angeles with 3.9 million.

With Michael R. Ebert

By Olivia Winslow

olivia.winslow@newsday.com@newsollie