Italian Population in Suffolk County, NY by City : 2025 Ranking & Insights

The Italian population in Suffolk County, NY is officially recorded at 319,592, with all of the county''s incorporated cities reporting residents of Italian ancestry. Among them, Brookhaven town (120,174), Islip town (60,303), and Huntington town (43,166) account for the largest shares. Interestingly, when adding up individual city estimates, the total surpasses the county-level figure - a difference that often arises from how city and county statistics are modeled separately. Below, we explore how Italian communities are distributed across New York''s more urbanized and fragmented counties.

Top 5 cities with the largest Italian population in Suffolk County

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  • 1
    Brookhaven town
    Italian population in Brookhaven town is 120,174
    24.64% of Brookhaven town population is Italian
  • 2
    Islip town
    Italian population in Islip town is 60,303
    17.80% of Islip town population is Italian
  • 3
    Huntington town
    Italian population in Huntington town is 43,166
    21.19% of Huntington town population is Italian
  • 4
    Babylon town
    Italian population in Babylon town is 39,006
    17.90% of Babylon town population is Italian
  • 5
    Smithtown town
    Italian population in Smithtown town is 35,126
    30.28% of Smithtown town population is Italian

Overview of Italian population in Suffolk County

  • Population Count and Percentage: American Community Survey data document Suffolk County with 319,592 Italian residents (20.9% of 1.5 million total county population), placing the jurisdiction at the 100th percentile nationally among counties and 98th percentile within New York for Italian population density, with demographic concentrations among the highest nationwide.
  • Comparison to State and National Averages: Census Bureau's ACS show Suffolk County's Italian population of 20.9% surpassing both New York's state average of 11.1% and the national average of 4.9%, positioning the county as a high-concentration jurisdiction exceeding demographic benchmarks across all geographic scales.
  • Share of Total State Population: Official American Community Survey indicate Suffolk County's 319,592 Italian residents constitute 14.5% of New York's total Italian population of 2.2 million, placing the county among jurisdictions with the highest demographic concentrations, with 14.5% of all New York Italian Americans residing within county boundaries.
  • Population Density per Square Mile: U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey document Suffolk County with 350.8 Italian Americans per square mile, seven and a half times New York's average density of 46.8 per square mile, placing the county among the most densely concentrated jurisdictions within the state.
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38 Cities in Suffolk County Ranked by Italian Population

View Methodology
ACS data [1] confirm Italian populations in every incorporated city in the county, with the largest counts in Brookhaven town, Islip town, Huntington town, and Babylon town. The table below provides detailed figures, including total population, density measures, and demographic distributions, based on the current ACS data for all 38 incorporated cities included in this analysis*.
cities in Suffolk County, NY ranked by Italian population count
Rank by Italian Population
City
Italian Population
% of Total City Population
% of Total Suffolk County Italian Population
5 Year Rank Trend
1 Brookhaven town 120,174 24.64% 37.60%
2 Islip town 60,303 17.80% 18.87%
3 Huntington town 43,166 21.19% 13.51%
4 Babylon town 39,006 17.90% 12.20%
5 Smithtown town 35,126 30.28% 10.99%
6 Southampton town 9,511 13.78% 2.98%
7 Lindenhurst 6,762 24.95% 2.12%
8 5,628 15.71% 1.76%
9 3,561 29.23% 1.11%
10 3,512 31.78% 1.10%
11 3,271 13.74% 1.02%
12 2,863 10.08% 0.90%
13 2,663 21.53% 0.83%
14 1,893 19.90% 0.59%
15 1,569 19.54% 0.49%
16 1,390 18.99% 0.43%
17 885 27.79% 0.28%
18 670 18.77% 0.21%
19 611 13.41% 0.19%
20 526 32.19% 0.16%
21 493 27.19% 0.15%
22 480 25.90% 0.15%
23 439 17.73% 0.14%
24 415 12.66% 0.13%
25 407 11.37% 0.13%
26 378 20.15% 0.12%
27 365 14.90% 0.11%
28 251 24.30% 0.08%
29 243 31.72% 0.08%
30 235 9.13% 0.07%
31 230 16.69% 0.07%
32 182 25.56% 0.06%
33 167 15.95% 0.05%
34 152 15.95% 0.05%
35 98 19.52% 0.03%
36 90 7.05% 0.03%
37 43 7.14% 0.01%
38 3 1.06% 0.00%
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Methodology

This ranking list is based on data from the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The ACS is one of the most reliable sources for understanding population trends across different locations, and it provides estimates for various racial and ethnic groups at city, county, state and all geography levels down to the Census block group.
This list ranks city in Suffolk County, NY by their Italian population, using the most recent ACS data available.

How the Census defines Italian population

The U.S. Census Bureau allows people to self-identify their ancestry, meaning individuals can write upto ancestries when responding to the survey. In this ranking, we include everyone who identifies as having Italian ancestry, whether alone or in combination with another ancestry.
Here are a few important things to know about how ancestry is reported:
  • Some people identify as Italian alone, while others identify as Italian along with another race (such as Italian and German).
  • We’ve used the “Italian alone or in any combination” category unless noted otherwise, which gives a broader picture of the Italian population in each area.

How We Ranked the Data

This ranking is based on the total number of people who identified as Italian alone or in combination in city. To provide additional context, we’ve also included two key percentages:
  1. % of Total City Population – This shows what percentage of the total state population identifies as Italian .
  2. % of Total Suffolk County Italian Population – This tells us how much of the entire U.S. Italian population lives in that state.
To keep things simple, all population numbers have been rounded to the nearest whole number, and percentages are rounded to one decimal place. Because of rounding, some percentages may not add up to exactly 100%.

Things to Keep in Mind

Like all survey-based data, ACS estimates come with some limitations. Here are a few things to be aware of:
  • In places with very small Italian populations, the numbers may not be reported at all due to privacy protections or sampling variability in the survey.
  • Since the ACS is based on a sample, the numbers are estimates, not exact counts. That means they may slightly differ from other sources like the decennial U.S. Census.
  • City that don’t have any reported Italian population are not included in the ranking but are listed separately below for reference.
This ranking is meant to provide a clear, data-driven look at where Italian populations are most concentrated while keeping the numbers easy to understand.

Sources

  1. 2019-2023 5-Year Estimates.
  2. 2023.