Danbury ( DAN-bair-ee) is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, located approximately 50 miles (80 km) northeast of New York City. Danbury's population as of 2020 was 86,518. It is the third-largest city in Western Connecticut, and the seventh-largest city in Connecticut. Located within the heart of the Housatonic Valley region, the city is a commercial hub of western Connecticut, an outer-ring commuter suburb of New York City, and an historic summer colony of the New York metropolitan area and New England. Danbury is nicknamed the "Hat City", because it was once the center of the American hat industry, during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The mineral danburite is named after Danbury, while the city itself is named for Danbury in Essex, England. Danbury is home to Danbury Hospital, Western Connecticut State University, Danbury Fair Mall, and Danbury Municipal Airport.