New Haven County is located in the south central part of Connecticut. Two of the state's largest cities, New Haven and Waterbury are part of the county. New Haven County is part of the New York Metropolitan Area. The county is bounded on the south by Long Island Sound. New Haven county has a total area of 862 square miles of which 70% is land and the remaining 30% water. As of the census of 2000, there were 824,008 people, 319,040 households, and 210,566 families residing in the county.