Rockland County, New York

Rockland County, New York
View of the Hudson River looking southward from Hook Mountain State Park.
Flag Seal
Location in the U.S. state of New York
New York's location in the U.S.
Founded	1798
Seat	New City
Largest community	New City
Area
• Total	199 sq mi (515 km2)
• Land	174 sq mi (451 km2)
• Water	25 sq mi (65 km2), 13%
Population
• Total	326,037
• Density	1,873.8/sq mi (723/km²)
Congressional district	17th
Time zone	Eastern: UTC-5/-4
Website	www.co.rockland.ny.us
Footnotes: Population is 2015 Census estimate.

Rockland County is the southernmost county on the west side of the Hudson River in the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York–Newark–Jersey City, NY–NJ–PA Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county's population, as of the 2010 census, was 311,687, increasing by 4.6% to a 2015 Census estimate of 326,037, making it the third most densely populated county outside of New York City within New York State (after Nassau and neighboring Westchester counties, respectively). The county seat is New City. Although Rockland County does not directly border any New York City boroughs, it lies only 9 miles northwest of the city at their closest points, and is accessible through 10 exits on the New York State Thruway. The name derives from "rocky land", as the area was described by early Dutch and English settlers.

Rockland County is the smallest county by area in New York State outside of New York City. It comprises five towns and nineteen incorporated villages, with numerous unincorporated villages (sixteen) and hamlets. Rockland County is designated as a Preserve America Community, and roughly one-third of the county is parkland. The county has the largest Jewish population per capita of any U.S. county, with 31.4%, or 90,000 residents, being Jewish. Rockland also ranks 9th on the list of highest-income counties by median household income in the United States with $75,306 according to the 2000 census. In 2015, Suffern was named as the best place to start a business in New York by NerdWallet. NerdWallet also included the villages of Haverstraw (73), West Haverstraw (76) and Spring Valley (83) in their report.