Fort Crailo · Photo: UpstateNYer · CC BY-SA 3.0Rensselaer has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.4 for each
1,461 jobs are based in Rensselaer; 4,067 of its residents have a job. Jobs and income earn Rensselaer B−; getting around on foot earns it A. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 7.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 21.9 in Albany.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Rensselaer in brief
Commutes from Rensselaer are quick
The average trip to work takes 22 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 84 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker. Time on the road ↓
A lot of Rensselaer works one town over
36% of working residents work in a town that borders Rensselaer: Albany (26%) and East Greenbush (10%). Next door ↓
Most Rensselaer residents work close to home
66% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Inside Rensselaer’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Rensselaer is better than 47% of U.S. towns, #439 of 758 in New York. Job access by car holds Rensselaer’s grade up (ahead of 84% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (17.9%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Rensselaer could be anywhere from C to B+.
About 22 minutes to work from Rensselaer
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Rensselaer workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,056 commuters (the 14% who work from home are left out). Across New York: 57% drive alone, 25% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
How far Rensselaer goes to work
About 18% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Who commutes out of Rensselaer, and who commutes in
On a workday 3,879 residents head out to work, 188 work right here, and 1,273 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,800 people are in Rensselaer on a workday afternoon, 28% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
26% of working residents work in Albany
Where Rensselaer clocks in
26% of workers
13% of workers
10% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
69% of the jobs in Rensselaer pay over $3,333 a month
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rensselaer, 2014 → 2024: 1,713 → 1,461. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Rensselaer’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Rensselaer
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Rensselaer is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns, #117 of 758 in New York. Both inputs place Rensselaer near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,728 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 74% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 57% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 7.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 90% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 15.9% of Rensselaer households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 6% of Rensselaer’s commuters take a bus or train.
Rensselaer is 1,748th of 2,806 U.S. towns of 6,600 to 12,700 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| 4 | Lawrence NY | 6,847 | $170K | 3.5% | 3.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 103 | East Rockaway NY | 10,096 | $125K | 2.6% | 3.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 106 | North Castle NY | 12,360 | $208K | 3.8% | 3.1% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,746 | Ponchatoula LA | 7,755 | $51K | 14.3% | 2.3% | 5% | B− |
| 1,747 | Flushing Township MI | 10,574 | $85K | 9.1% | 7.1% | 3% | B− |
| 1,748 | Rensselaer NY | 9,421 | $70K | 17.9% | 4.6% | 5% | B− |
| 1,749 | Ketchikan AK | 7,939 | $85K | 11.2% | 4.0% | — | B− |
| 1,750 | Hamilton Township OH | 10,413 | $79K | 17.0% | 6.3% | 5% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,806 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 6% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Rensselaer, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
Work next door: 36% of Rensselaer’s workers
The biggest share goes to Albany (26%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Rensselaer workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rensselaer | – | B− | A | 22 min | $70,080 |
| North Greenbush | under 3% | A | B+ | 21 min | $117,372 |
| East Greenbush | 10% | A | A | 21 min | $105,111 |
| Albany | 26% | C | A+ | 20 min | $61,986 |
| Hampton Manor | under 3% | — | — | 22 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Hampton Manor: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Rensselaer’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Rensselaer: questions
What is the median household income in Rensselaer?
$70,080 (±$8,662) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rensselaer?
17.9%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rensselaer?
22 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Rensselaer work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Albany (26%, 4 mi), Colonie (13%, 7 mi), East Greenbush (10%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Rensselaer walkable?
Rensselaer is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 12.1 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Rensselaer without a car?
6% of commuters take transit and 16% of households have no car. 57% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Rensselaer, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rensselaer
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.