Niagara County vs Rensselaer County

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

Niagara 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.

Niagara County has the higher population (211,341 vs 160,341 in Rensselaer County). Rensselaer County has the higher median household income ($86,663 vs $67,809 in Niagara County). Rensselaer County has the higher median home value ($244,300 vs $177,400 in Niagara County).

Population, income & housing

	Niagara County	Rensselaer County
Population	211,341	160,341
Median age	43.2 yrs	40.2 yrs
Median household income	$67,809	$86,663
Median home value	$177,400	$244,300
Median gross rent	$870	$1,182
Housing units	100,335	74,388
Homeownership rate	70.9%	64.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher	27.2%	37.3%
Unemployment rate	6.0%	5.6%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Niagara County	Rensselaer County
Population	210,820 → 211,341 (+0.2%)	159,185 → 160,341 (+0.7%)
Median household income	$55,522 → $67,809 (+22.1%)	$68,991 → $86,663 (+25.6%)
Median home value	$125,600 → $177,400 (+41.2%)	$188,700 → $244,300 (+29.5%)
Median gross rent	$703 → $870 (+23.8%)	$973 → $1,182 (+21.5%)

Niagara County

Population

210,820211,341

Median household income

$55,522$67,809

Median home value

$125,600$177,400

Median gross rent

$703$870

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)

	Niagara County	Rensselaer County
Under 5	5.1%	4.9%
5 to 17	14.9%	14.3%
18 to 24	7.9%	10.0%
25 to 34	12.3%	13.8%
35 to 44	11.9%	12.8%
45 to 54	12.2%	12.0%
55 to 64	15.6%	14.2%
65 to 74	12.2%	10.9%
75 and over	8.0%	6.9%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Niagara County	Rensselaer County
White (non-Hispanic)	82.8%	79.8%
Black or African American	6.3%	6.3%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.5%	0.0%
Asian	1.2%	3.1%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.4%	0.4%
Two or more races	4.9%	4.4%
Hispanic or Latino	3.9%	5.9%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Niagara County	Rensselaer County
No high school diploma	8.0%	7.3%
High school graduate	32.4%	25.5%
Some college or associate's	32.4%	30.0%
Bachelor's degree	16.1%	21.5%
Graduate or professional degree	11.1%	15.8%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Niagara County	Rensselaer County
Drove alone	78.1%	72.6%
Carpooled	7.8%	7.2%
Public transit	0.8%	2.4%
Walked	2.6%	3.7%
Bicycle	0.2%	0.2%
Worked from home	9.2%	12.5%
Other means	1.2%	1.4%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Niagara County	Rensselaer County
1-unit, detached	67.8%	55.7%
1-unit, attached	2.3%	3.7%
2 to 4 units	14.6%	22.3%
5 to 19 units	7.0%	8.5%
20 or more units	4.5%	7.0%
Mobile home & other	3.7%	2.7%

Poverty & households

	Niagara County	Rensselaer County
Poverty rate	13.0%	11.8%
Average household size	2.26	2.32
Mean commute (minutes)	22	24
Median year structure built	1958	1962