Kings County, New York

Kings County is a county in New York, United States, coextensive with the New York City borough
of Brooklyn, across the East River from Manhattan. It had a population of 2,736,074 at the 2020
census, an estimated 2,653,963 by 2025, and covers 70.82 square miles (183.4 km2) of land —
97 square miles (250 km2) including water — centred near 40°39′N 73°57′W.

Downtown Brooklyn is the county seat, home to Brooklyn Borough Hall and the Kings County
Supreme Court on Adams Street; its postal code is 11201. The county has no incorporated cities or
towns of its own — it governs as a single consolidated borough divided into 18 community
districts and roughly 30 named neighborhoods — and it runs on Eastern Time. Its FIPS code is
36047.

Towns & Villages in Kings County

Kings County has never had separately incorporated towns; New York City absorbed the old City
of Brooklyn and its surrounding towns in the 1898 consolidation. What residents call
“neighborhoods” today are informal districts with no municipal government, grouped
into 18 official community districts. The table below lists the county’s best-known
neighborhoods with the community district (CD) each sits in and its ZIP prefix.

A few names on this list are ambiguous. “Brighton Beach” and “Sheepshead
Bay” share the 11235 ZIP and sit side by side along the same stretch of shoreline —
locals draw the line at Coney Island Avenue. “Bath Beach” and “Bensonhurst”
likewise overlap along Bath Avenue, and most residents use the two names interchangeably for
that stretch of southwest Brooklyn.

ZIP Codes

Kings County uses roughly 37 ZIP codes, all beginning with the prefix 112 and running from
11201 through 11256. Among the most-searched:

• 11201 — Downtown Brooklyn / Brooklyn Heights (county seat)
• 11211 — Williamsburg
• 11221 — Bushwick / Bedford-Stuyvesant
• 11207 — East New York
• 11209 — Bay Ridge
• 11214 — Bensonhurst / Bath Beach
• 11218 — Kensington
• 11223 — Gravesend
• 11224 — Coney Island
• 11234 — Mill Basin / Bergen Beach
• 11236 — Canarsie

A handful of small waterfront pockets — Gerritsen Beach and parts of Marine Park —
share a ZIP with a larger neighboring district rather than carrying one of their own.

Geography

Kings County occupies the western end of Long Island, the southwestern corner of the New York
metropolitan area. Of its 97 square miles, 70.82 are land and about 26 are water, roughly 27
percent — unusually high because the county is bounded by the East River, the Upper and
Lower New York Bay, Gravesend Bay, Jamaica Bay and the Atlantic Ocean on every side but one. The
county has no natural lake; its largest inland body of water is the man-made lake in Prospect
Park. The Gowanus Canal, a federally designated Superfund waterway, cuts through South Brooklyn
toward Gowanus Bay.

Kings County shares its only land border with Queens County to the east and northeast.
Across the East River to the north lies New York County (Manhattan), reached by
the Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges and the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel. Across the
Narrows to the west, connected by the Verrazzano–Narrows Bridge, lies Richmond County (Staten Island). The
Atlantic Ocean and Jamaica Bay form the county’s southern edge.

Demographics

Kings County had a population of 2,736,074 at the 2020 census, the largest of New York
City’s five boroughs and the most populous county anywhere in New York. The 2025 estimate
puts the county near 2,653,963, a decline tied to the city’s post-pandemic domestic
outmigration. Flatbush and Bedford-Stuyvesant rank among the county’s largest and most
historically significant neighborhoods by population. Median household income runs $80,263 (2024,
Data USA), close to New York’s statewide figure of $82,095 (2023 ACS). Population density
works out to about 39,336 people per square mile of land — the densest county in New York
and among the densest in the country.

Economy & Local Life

Health care and social assistance is Kings County’s largest employment sector, with
236,636 workers, followed by professional, scientific and technical services at 151,840 and
educational services at 128,820 (Data USA). SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University and Kings
County Hospital Center, both in East Flatbush, and Maimonides Medical Center in Borough Park anchor
the county’s health care base. The Brooklyn Navy Yard, a 300-acre industrial park along the
East River near Fort Greene, hosts manufacturing, film production and design firms on the site of
a former US Navy shipyard. Barclays Center in Prospect Heights hosts the Brooklyn Nets and New York
Liberty and is a regular concert venue. The county’s biggest annual event is the West Indian
American Day Carnival, held on Labor Day along Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights, drawing one of
the largest Caribbean carnival crowds outside the Caribbean.

History

Dutch settlers established Breukelen, the first of six original towns that became Kings County,
in 1634. The Province of New York organized Kings County on 1 November 1683 as one of the
colony’s original 12 counties, naming it for King Charles II of England. Brooklyn
incorporated as an independent city in 1834 and, by 1890, ranked as the fourth-largest city in the
United States on its own. On 1 January 1898, Brooklyn joined Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx and
Staten Island to form the consolidated City of New York, and Kings County has shared Brooklyn’s
boundary ever since.

The Battle of Long Island, fought on 27 August 1776 near present-day Green-Wood Cemetery,
Prospect Park and Grand Army Plaza, was the first major engagement of the American Revolutionary
War after independence and the war’s largest battle by troop numbers. British forces routed George
Washington’s Continental Army, which escaped across the East River to Manhattan in a night retreat
historians still study as a tactical success inside a strategic defeat.

Getting There

No numbered interstate begins or ends inside Kings County, but Interstate 278 crosses the
county as the Gowanus and Brooklyn-Queens Expressways, and the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel
carries Interstate 478 traffic into Manhattan. The Belt Parkway rings the county’s southern and
eastern shoreline, and the Prospect Expressway links Park Slope to the Belt Parkway.

• Manhattan — about 1 mile north across the East River
• Queens — adjacent, directly east
• Staten Island — about 9 miles west via the Verrazzano–Narrows Bridge
• Jersey City, New Jersey — about 6 miles west across Upper New York Bay

LaGuardia Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport, both roughly 9 to 10 miles from
central Brooklyn, are the nearest commercial airports; JFK borders Jamaica Bay along the
county’s southeastern edge. The nearest Amtrak station is Moynihan Train Hall / Penn Station in
Manhattan, about 3 miles north, reached from Brooklyn by subway in 25 to 40 minutes depending on
neighborhood. New York City Subway lines cover the county far more densely than any other US
county’s transit network.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Kings County located?
It occupies the western tip of Long Island in New York, coextensive with the New York City
borough of Brooklyn, across the East River from Manhattan.

What is the population of Kings County?
2,736,074 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 2,653,963. It is the most populous county
anywhere in New York.

How big is Kings County?
97 square miles (250 km2) total, of which 70.82 square miles (183.4 km2) is land.

What is the county seat of Kings County?
Downtown Brooklyn, home to Brooklyn Borough Hall and the Kings County Supreme Court.

Does Kings County have any incorporated towns?
No. It has never had separately incorporated towns since the 1898 consolidation into New York
City; the county’s roughly 30 neighborhoods have no municipal government of their own.

What ZIP codes does Kings County use?
About 37 codes, all beginning with 112, from 11201 (Downtown Brooklyn) through 11236 (Canarsie)
and beyond.

Why is Brooklyn called Kings County?
The Province of New York named it in 1683 for King Charles II of England, the same year it
created Queens County next door, named for his wife.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in New York.