Western Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut

The Western Connecticut Planning Region is a special area in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is one of nine planning regions in the state and works with a group called the Western Connecticut Council of Governments, known as WestCOG. This region helps plan and organize things for towns and cities in the area.

The Western Connecticut Planning Region includes parts called the Connecticut Panhandle, Greater Danbury, and the Gold Coast. In 2022, these planning regions were chosen to take the place of Connecticut’s traditional counties for some important purposes. This change became fully active in 2024.

WestCOG is very close to New York, making it an important area for people who live here and work in New York City. Towns such as Greenwich and Stamford are popular places for commuters who travel to the city each day.

Demographics

According to the 2020 United States census, about 620,549 people live in the Western Connecticut Planning Region. This makes it the second most populated area in the state, just after the Capitol Planning Region.

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1790	28,396		—
1800	25,499		−10.2%
1810	26,251		2.9%
1820	31,668		20.6%
1830	34,302		8.3%
1840	37,000		7.9%
1850	41,500		12.2%
1860	49,219		18.6%
1870	56,137		14.1%
1880	64,629		15.1%
1890	86,515		33.9%
1900	98,510		13.9%
1910	123,093		25.0%
1920	139,600		13.4%
1930	182,298		30.6%
1940	201,112		10.3%
1950	261,762		30.2%
1960	366,484		40.0%
1970	470,397		28.4%
1980	495,928		5.4%
1990	517,802		4.4%
2000	565,804		9.3%
2010	589,155		4.1%
2020	620,549		5.3%
2025 (est.)	640,482		3.2%
U.S. Decennial Census

Municipalities

The Western Connecticut Region includes several cities and towns. The cities in this region are Danbury, Norwalk, and Stamford.

The towns in the region include Bethel, Bridgewater, Brookfield, Darien, Greenwich, New Canaan, New Fairfield, New Milford, Newtown, Redding, Ridgefield, Sherman, Weston, Westport, and Wilton.