Broome County vs Rensselaer County

A side-by-side comparison of Broome County and Rensselaer County: population, income, housing, and more.

Broome County and Rensselaer County are counties in New York. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Broome County has the higher population (197,738 vs 160,341 in Rensselaer County). Rensselaer County has the higher median household income ($86,663 vs $61,059 in Broome County). Rensselaer County has the higher median home value ($244,300 vs $145,100 in Broome County).

Population, income & housing

	Broome County	Rensselaer County
Population	197,738	160,341
Median age	39.4 yrs	40.2 yrs
Median household income	$61,059	$86,663
Median home value	$145,100	$244,300
Median gross rent	$914	$1,182
Housing units	92,889	74,388
Homeownership rate	64.6%	64.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher	30.6%	37.3%
Unemployment rate	6.7%	5.6%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Broome County	Rensselaer County
Population	193,188 → 197,738 (+2.4%)	159,185 → 160,341 (+0.7%)
Median household income	$52,226 → $61,059 (+16.9%)	$68,991 → $86,663 (+25.6%)
Median home value	$117,000 → $145,100 (+24.0%)	$188,700 → $244,300 (+29.5%)
Median gross rent	$776 → $914 (+17.8%)	$973 → $1,182 (+21.5%)

Broome County

Population

193,188197,738

Median household income

$52,226$61,059

Median home value

$117,000$145,100

Median gross rent

$776$914

Rensselaer County

Population

159,185160,341

Median household income

$68,991$86,663

Median home value

$188,700$244,300

Median gross rent

$973$1,182

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Broome County	Rensselaer County
Under 5	4.9%	4.9%
5 to 17	14.4%	14.3%
18 to 24	14.5%	10.0%
25 to 34	11.2%	13.8%
35 to 44	10.9%	12.8%
45 to 54	10.4%	12.0%
55 to 64	13.8%	14.2%
65 to 74	11.0%	10.9%
75 and over	8.9%	6.9%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Broome County	Rensselaer County
White (non-Hispanic)	80.1%	79.8%
Black or African American	5.1%	6.3%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.0%
Asian	5.0%	3.1%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.4%	0.4%
Two or more races	4.0%	4.4%
Hispanic or Latino	5.4%	5.9%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Broome County	Rensselaer County
No high school diploma	9.0%	7.3%
High school graduate	29.6%	25.5%
Some college or associate's	30.8%	30.0%
Bachelor's degree	16.4%	21.5%
Graduate or professional degree	14.1%	15.8%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Broome County	Rensselaer County
Drove alone	73.9%	72.6%
Carpooled	9.1%	7.2%
Public transit	2.8%	2.4%
Walked	4.1%	3.7%
Bicycle	0.5%	0.2%
Worked from home	8.2%	12.5%
Other means	1.5%	1.4%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Broome County	Rensselaer County
1-unit, detached	60.6%	55.7%
1-unit, attached	2.4%	3.7%
2 to 4 units	19.0%	22.3%
5 to 19 units	8.5%	8.5%
20 or more units	5.4%	7.0%
Mobile home & other	4.3%	2.7%

Poverty & households

	Broome County	Rensselaer County
Poverty rate	18.9%	11.8%
Average household size	2.28	2.32
Mean commute (minutes)	19	24
Median year structure built	1959	1962