Economic Profile

Population: Rensselaer County: 159,722 | Capital District: 854,768

Size: 665 square miles

Municipalities: 14 townships, 2 cities, 6 villages (Discover Towns & Villages)

Total employer establishments (2014): 2,997

Median Age: 39.8

Median Household Income: $61,754

Arts & Cultural Institutions

The Arts Center of the Greater Capital Region engages people in the creative experience. As the region’s preeminent proponent of the arts and creative education, expression, and appreciation, they serve people of all ages, abilities, and economic and cultural backgrounds.
Rensselaer County Historical Society connects local history and heritage with contemporary life.
Troy Savings Bank Music Hall is a concert and performance space in Troy, renowned for its acoustics and an Odell concert organ.

Colleges and Universities

More than 66,000 students are enrolled in the Capital Region’s colleges and universities. Rensselaer County, in particular, is home to these members:

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the nation’s oldest technical college.
The Sage Colleges, including Russell Sage College, one of the country’s first colleges for women.
Hudson Valley Community College, a two-year college associated with the State University of New York and the second-largest institution of higher learning in the Capital Region of New York State.

Additional higher education member institutions include:

Empire State College, a multi-site institution offering associate, bachelor's, master's degrees and distance learning degrees.
Excelsior College, a private, non-profit college offering undergraduate and graduate level degrees.
University at Albany – SUNY, an internationally recognized research institute in New York State’s capital.
Siena College, a private, Catholic, liberal arts college.
The College of St. Rose, ranked as a Best Northern University by U.S. News & World Report.

Primary and Secondary Education

Rensselaer County public school district members include:

Private and independent member schools include:

The Albany Academie s, an independent college preparatory day school for boys and girls enrolling students from preschool to grade 12.
Diocese of Albany Catholic Schools provides quality learning and teaching environments for children throughout the Greater Albany area at 22 locations.
Emma Willard, one the country’s most prestigious college-preparatory schools for girls.
LaSalle Institute, an independent, Catholic college preparatory school serving young men in grades 6-12.
Robert C. Parker School, an independent school for boys and girls in preschool through eighth grade.
Susan Odell Taylor School for Children offers an exceptional educational choice to families with children in preschool through eighth grade.
True North Troy Preparatory School, a rigorous, college prep public school preparing students to enter and succeed in college.
Woodland Hill Montessori School, a private coeducational school serving preschool through middle school.

Health Care

Rensselaer County is home to world-renowned health care.

St. Peter's Health Partners is a comprehensive regional network of high-quality, advanced medical care, primary care, rehabilitation and senior services provided throughout the region. St. Mary's Hospital and Samaritan Hospital in Troy are undergoing a transformational master facilities plan that will reconfigure and consolidate the hospitals to provide greater access, efficiency and fiscal sustainability, with the ultimate goal of a reinvigorated, state-of-the-art health care presence for the community.
Albany Medical Center EmUrgent Care is urgent care facility staffed by emergency medicine-trained providers located on Hoosick Street in Brunswick.

Transportation

Situated at the confluence of rivers, highways and rail, Rensselaer County and its gateway communities are linked by a variety of transportation systems and are surrounded by Interstates 87,90 and 787, providing easy access to major metropolitan areas of New York and the Northeast.

Albany International Airport is within minutes of Rensselaer County. As the major air center for the Capital Region, Northeastern New York and Western New England, the Albany International Airport offers a wide range of facilities and services.
The Rensselaer Rail Station was the first major rail center built in the United States in more than 50 years. The station is the ninth busiest Amtrak station in the network across the country with more than 800,000 customers passing through every year. The region is one of the few places in the country that can travel north, east, south or west by rail.
CDTA delivers transit services that take people where they want to go in the Capital Region safely, efficiently and at a reasonable cost.