CHAPTER 2 – DEMOGRAPHICS

Introduction

This chapter summarizes a number of key characteristics of Bristol's population, including its size, race and ethnicity, age distribution, households and income. Such information is necessary in order to anticipate how other components of the Plan, e.g., housing and transportation, might be affected over time by the changing demographics of the community. Doing so gives the city the opportunity to properly plan for the provision of municipal services and to initiate other appropriate actions in response to those changes.

• 1989 Bristol Plan of Development
• Central Connecticut Regional Development Plan
• Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development
• Connecticut Office of Policy and Management
• U. S. Census Bureau

• Bristol's population in 1990 was 60,640 persons, an increase of 3,270 (or 5.7 percent) over its 1980 population of 57,370 persons. According to estimates from the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, Bristol's population was approximately 59,160 persons in 1998. According to estimates from the Connecticut Office of Policy and Management, Bristol's population is projected to reach 63,630 persons in 2010. (See Figure 2-1.)
• The northwest and southeast sections of Bristol experienced the most significant population increases in the city between 1980 and 1990, each growing by some 1,500 persons during that ten-year period.
• The ethnic and racial composition of Bristol changed relatively little between 1980 and 1990. There was, however, a significant increase (83 percent) in the number of persons who identified themselves as being of Hispanic origin (though persons so identified may be of any race). Though the number and percentage of persons comprising various minority groups increased during this period, Bristol remains a predominantly white, multi-ethnic city whose residents come from various European backgrounds, where families trace their ancestry to immigration from another era. (See Figure 2-2.)
• The median age in Bristol in 1990 was just under 32 years old, higher than the median age of 27.5 in 1970 and 30.7 in 1980. This increasing median age is part of a national trend, as the so-called "baby boom" generation advances into middle age.
• Between 1970 and 1990, Bristol's population experienced a decrease in the number of young persons (0-19 years old) and a concurrent increase in the number of older persons (65+ years old). These shifts in the city's age composition are forecasted to continue into the next decade and, as a result, may cause a re-examination of municipal priorities by city officials and taxpayers. For example, public education might become less of a priority of the city's older residents, who no longer have children in school. Similarly, the city may have to more vigorously respond to the needs of its aging population in terms of housing opportunities, recreational facilities and long-term care. (See Figures 2-3 and 2-4.)
• Bristol contained 23,903 households in 1990, an increase of 3,393 households (or 16.5 percent) over the 1980 figure of 20,510 households. Of those totals, 16,750 households were classified as families in 1990, versus 15,560 so classified in 1980. Although families still constitute the primary type of household in the city, their proportion of the total number of Bristol households decreased to 70.0 percent in 1990 from 75.9 percent in 1980 and 84.7 percent in 1970, concurrent with a comparable increase in the number and proportion of non-family households during this same twenty-year period.
• The rate of growth of the city's households has been greater than that of its overall population: between 1980 and 1990, the number of households in Bristol increased by 16.5 percent, while the city's population increased by only 5.7 percent.
• Married couples (with or without children) composed nearly 83 percent of Bristol's 16,750 families in 1990; female householders living alone, with children under the age of 18, composed another 7.4 percent.
• In 1990, 5,924 of the city's 7,153 non-family households (82.8 percent) lived alone; of those, nearly 40 percent were over the age of 65.
• Average household size in Bristol decreased between 1970 and 1990 from 3.3 persons per household to 2.5 persons per household; average household size in 1990 for the State of Connecticut as a whole was also 2.5 persons per household. This decrease, which is reflective of national trends, can be attributed to a variety of factors, including lower birth rates, higher divorce rates, later marriages, and an increase in the number of one-person households.
• Between 1970 and 1990, the number of single persons in Bristol increased (from 9,580 to 12,807), as did the number of divorced persons (from 938 to 3,917). During this same period, the number of married persons rose slightly (from 26,293 to 27,862).
• The median household income in Bristol in 1990 was $38,261, slightly below the median household income of $40,609 for Hartford County and $41,721 for the state as a whole. The median family income in Bristol in 1990 was higher at $45,631, reflecting the presence of dual-earner couples and the generally more stable finances of families. Bristol's per capita income in 1990 was $16,909, less than Hartford County's per capita income of $18,983 and the state's per capita income of $20,189. (See Figure 2-5.)
• Bristol's 1990 median household income of $38,261 represents a nearly 17 percent increase over its 1980 median household income of $32,713 (the latter adjusted to reflect 1990 dollars). This increase can be explained in part by the higher level of education within Bristol. In 1990, 35.8 percent of the city's 25 years-and-older population had a high school diploma (an increase of nearly 10 percent since 1980) and 17.6 percent had an associate's or bachelor's degree.
• Based upon an analysis of the distribution of household incomes throughout the city, it appears that Bristol's higher income households generally reside on Federal Hill and in neighborhoods near the Farmington, Plainville and Burlington town lines; Bristol's lower income households tend to be concentrated in and immediately adjacent to the center of the city.
• In 1990, 2.9 percent of Bristol's families (493 out of 16,750) had incomes below the poverty level (as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau). Nearly 60 percent of these families were headed by females with no husband present and with children under the age of 18.

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