THE NEW BEDFORD LAND BRIEF
Land in the
Narragansett/Bristol Lowland setting.
New Bedford city has 20 square miles of land in Bristol County. Its Census reference point is in Narragansett/Bristol Lowland, within Northeastern Coastal Zone.
Irregular plains and low hills form a coastal transition with glacial lakes and oak-pine woodland. This northeastern landscape is gentler than the mountainous country farther inland.
Regional context: Northeastern Coastal Zone ↗ · Classification at the Census reference point
New Bedford and Bristol County
New Bedford is associated with Bristol County in the Census boundary data. Start with the parcel’s tax bill to match the property to that jurisdiction, then confirm which government handles its land use.
New Bedford by land and water
The Census records 4.13 square miles of water within New Bedford, or 17.1% of its total area. It is 2.9 percentage points lower than the 20% recorded for Bristol County. This is geographic context; waterfront status and usable land must be checked at the parcel.
For scale, New Bedford city has 14.1 times the land area of nearby Acushnet Center CDP (1.42 square miles). These areas describe boundaries, not comparable property prices.

