East Hampton is a town located in southeastern Suffolk County, New York and is the easternmost town on the South Shore of Long Island. The town includes the village of East Hampton, as well as four official hamlets of Montauk, Amagansett, Wainscott and Springs. It is home to the largest privately owned island in the United States and largest fishing fleet in the State of New York.

Natural attributes of the town (marked by eight state parks and numerous county, town, municipal and Nature Conservancy areas) have contributed to its reputation as a "Playground of the Rich" where seemingly anybody with major money in the New York City has an estate in the town. It is the eastern most point in the State of New York and surrounded by water on three sides. Two First Ladies spent their childhoods in the town and President Clinton spent his summer vacations there. Jackson Pollock created his most famous paintings in the town.

Demographics in East Hampton are skewed by the fact that more than half the houses are owned second homes (often from some of the wealthiest people in the country). The overwhelming main industry for East Hampton is support for its residential community.

As of the census of 2000, there were 19,719 people, households, and families residing in East Hampton. The population density is 248.2/km² (643.1/mi²). There are 2,251 housing units at an average density of 155.8/km² (403.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the town is 82.46% White, 7.39% Black or African American, 0.08% Native American, 1.62% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 5.94% from other races, and 2.43% from two or more races. 16.62% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 1,445 households out of which 27.3% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.2% are married couples living together, 12.2% have a female householder with no husband present, and 39.0% are non-families. 31.9% of all households are made up of individuals and 16.8% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.47 and the average family size is 3.07.

In the town the population is spread out with 22.3% under the age of 18, 6.7% from 18 to 24, 28.0% from 25 to 44, 25.8% from 45 to 64, and 17.2% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 41 years. For every 100 females there are 92.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 90.2 males.

The median income for a household in the town is $52,201, and the median income for a family is $55,357. Males have a median income of $38,566 versus $29,750 for females. The per capita income for the CDP is $25,725. 12.2% of the population and 10.3% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 20.5% of those under the age of 18 and 4.2% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.


Information courtesy of US Census Bureau and wikipedia.org