Schenectady County is located in east central New York. It is part of the Albany-Schenectady-Troy Metropolitan Statistical Area. Schenectady County has a total area of approximately 210 square miles of which 98% is land and 2% water. As of the census of 2000, there were 146,555 people, 59,684 households, and 38,018 families residing in the Schenectady County, making it the eighteenth most populous county in New York state. The county's name is derived from a Mohawk Indian word meaning "on the other side of the pine lands."