There were 44,986 households out of which 34.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 25.2% were married couples living together, 29.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.6% were non-families. 33.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.33.

In the city the population was spread out with 30.1% under the age of 18, 12.6% from 18 to 24, 29.8% from 25 to 44, 18.0% from 45 to 64, and 9.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females there were 91.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $24,820, and the median income for a family was $27,051. Males had a median income of $28,444 versus $26,131 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,428. About 28.2% of families and 30.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 41.0% of those under age 18 and 23.2% of those age 65 or over.

After World War II, many residents of Puerto Rico moved to Hartford and today Puerto Rican flags can be found on cars and buildings all over the city.

In 2000, 32.56% of Hartford residents claimed Puerto Rican heritage. This was the second largest concentration of Puerto Ricans on the US mainland, behind only Holyoke, Massachusetts.

Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez was born in Puerto Rico and moved to Hartford in 1969, when he was 12 years old.