Rensselaer County vs Ulster County

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

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

Ulster County has the higher population (182,109 vs 160,341 in Rensselaer County). Rensselaer County has the higher median household income ($86,663 vs $81,804 in Ulster County). Ulster County has the higher median home value ($315,100 vs $244,300 in Rensselaer County).

Population, income & housing

	Rensselaer County	Ulster County
Population	160,341	182,109
Median age	40.2 yrs	44.2 yrs
Median household income	$86,663	$81,804
Median home value	$244,300	$315,100
Median gross rent	$1,182	$1,335
Housing units	74,388	86,178
Homeownership rate	64.1%	70.0%
Bachelor's degree or higher	37.3%	37.1%
Unemployment rate	5.6%	5.1%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Rensselaer County	Ulster County
Population	159,185 → 160,341 (+0.7%)	178,665 → 182,109 (+1.9%)
Median household income	$68,991 → $86,663 (+25.6%)	$64,304 → $81,804 (+27.2%)
Median home value	$188,700 → $244,300 (+29.5%)	$230,500 → $315,100 (+36.7%)
Median gross rent	$973 → $1,182 (+21.5%)	$1,112 → $1,335 (+20.1%)

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

Ulster County

Population

178,665182,109

Median household income

$64,304$81,804

Median home value

$230,500$315,100

Median gross rent

$1,112$1,335

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Rensselaer County	Ulster County
Under 5	4.9%	4.4%
5 to 17	14.3%	13.0%
18 to 24	10.0%	8.9%
25 to 34	13.8%	12.5%
35 to 44	12.8%	12.3%
45 to 54	12.0%	12.8%
55 to 64	14.2%	15.4%
65 to 74	10.9%	12.3%
75 and over	6.9%	8.4%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Rensselaer County	Ulster County
White (non-Hispanic)	79.8%	73.5%
Black or African American	6.3%	5.7%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	3.1%	2.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.4%	1.2%
Two or more races	4.4%	5.7%
Hispanic or Latino	5.9%	11.8%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Rensselaer County	Ulster County
No high school diploma	7.3%	8.3%
High school graduate	25.5%	28.0%
Some college or associate's	30.0%	26.7%
Bachelor's degree	21.5%	20.2%
Graduate or professional degree	15.8%	16.9%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Rensselaer County	Ulster County
Drove alone	72.6%	70.9%
Carpooled	7.2%	6.7%
Public transit	2.4%	2.1%
Walked	3.7%	3.0%
Bicycle	0.2%	0.4%
Worked from home	12.5%	15.4%
Other means	1.4%	1.4%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Rensselaer County	Ulster County
1-unit, detached	55.7%	68.6%
1-unit, attached	3.7%	3.3%
2 to 4 units	22.3%	12.9%
5 to 19 units	8.5%	6.1%
20 or more units	7.0%	3.2%
Mobile home & other	2.7%	5.8%

Poverty & households

	Rensselaer County	Ulster County
Poverty rate	11.8%	14.3%
Average household size	2.32	2.31
Mean commute (minutes)	24	28
Median year structure built	1962	1966