2020 census As of the
2020 census, among the 5,107 residents the racial makeup of the county was 93.69%
White, 0.61%
Black or
African American, 0.27%
Native American, 0.23%
Asian, 0.02%
Pacific Islander, 0.43% from
other races, and 4.74% from two or more races. 1.96% of the population were
Hispanic or
Latino of any race. Additional demographics are based on older data. As of the
census of 2000, there were 5,379 people, 2,362 households, and 1,558 families residing in the county. The
population density was ; both the total population and population density rank lowest in the state of
New York. There were 7,965 housing units at an average density of . 16.9% were of Irish, 15.7% German, 15.2% English, 10.9% French, 7.3% American and 5.7% Italian ancestry. 97.5% spoke English and 1.7% French as their first language. There were 2,362 households, out of which 23.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.70% were
married couples living together, 6.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.00% were non-families. 29.60% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 2.74. In the county, the population was spread out, with 19.70% under the age of 18, 5.20% from 18 to 24, 24.20% from 25 to 44, 30.90% from 45 to 64, and 20.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females there were 100.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.40 males. The median income for a household in the county was $32,287, and the median income for a family was $39,676. Males had a median income of $29,177 versus $21,849 for females. The
per capita income for the county was $18,643. About 6.00% of families and 10.40% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 10.50% of those under age 18 and 8.70% of those age 65 or over. Research published in 2016 found that Hamilton County had by far the highest suicide rate in the state of New York; at 28 per 100,000 people. This meant that Hamilton County had a suicide rate more than double the national average and more than triple the state average of 13 and 8.4 per 100,000 people respectively. Though the report found instances of suicide to be significantly higher in Upstate generally, the rate in Hamilton County was disproportionate regardless of region; being 22.1, high though still significantly lower, in
Lewis County, which was found to have the second highest rate in New York. ==Government and politics==