Rochester

Population & Demographics

Rochester, NY

Rochester is home to 208,772 people. Explore its demographics, housing, and economy — plus how its 87,401 resident workers commute each day.

New YorkCensus ACS 5-Year · LODES 2023
208,772
people
Population

208,772 residents

Median age 33.7 · U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year (2024).

Rochester population & demographics

Who lives in Rochester — population, age, housing, and income, from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Population
208,772
Median age
33.7yrs
Median household income
$47,213
Median home value
$139,600
Median gross rent
$1,081/mo
Bachelor’s degree or higher
30.0%
Poverty rate
27.8%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 2024 5-Year Estimates. Values shown as “—” are suppressed or unavailable for this place.

Race & ethnicity in Rochester

How Rochester breaks down by race and ethnicity — each bar is that group’s share of the population, from the U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year (2024).

White36.4%
Black34.7%
Hispanic or Latino19.6%
Two or more races5.3%
Asian3.2%
Some other race0.6%
American Indian / Alaska Native0.2%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander0.0%

Race across Rochester

Each dot is a group of people, placed in their 2020 Census block and colored by race or ethnicity — the pattern shows where groups live across Rochester.

Rochester at a glance
Employed Residents
87,401
Fewer than the city’s total population
Median home–work distance
4.2mi
Straight-line, not road distance
Work Locally
41.7%
Share working within the area
Work from home
12.5%
Residents who work from home (ACS)
Top destination outside city
Brighton
Excludes local — most work in-city

These figures are for Rochester proper — the Census place within its city limits — not the surrounding metro area. Metro-wide totals you’ll see elsewhere are larger because they bundle in neighboring cities and suburbs.

How Rochester commutes

Every dot is a worker moving between home and job. Trace where the area pulls people in from — and where its residents head each day.

76
Commute Score

76 / 100

How short the typical commute is here, on an absolute 0–100 scale (higher is shorter). How it’s calculated.

Rochester

87,401 commutes, one dot at a time

Rochester

Where 87,401 workers commute

Each dot ≈ 75 workers

Where residents work

Top destinations for people who live in Rochester, by worker count.

1Rochester0.0 mi36,475
2Brighton3.7 mi3,872
3Irondequoit3.4 mi2,420
4New York255.0 mi2,097
5Buffalo65.3 mi926
6Greece5.4 mi798
7Rochester Institute of Technology6.3 mi753
8Syracuse74.7 mi565

Who commutes in

Top origin places for workers who travel into Rochester.

1Rochester0.0 mi36,475
2Irondequoit3.4 mi9,031
3Brighton3.7 mi6,055
4Greece5.4 mi2,363
5North Gates4.7 mi1,580
6Buffalo65.3 mi1,263
7New York255.0 mi1,095
8Syracuse74.7 mi942

Top industries

The sectors that employ Rochester’s workforce. Each bar is scaled to that sector’s share of all local jobs — the top sectors shown don’t add up to 100%.

Bar length = each sector’s share of all local jobs (0–100%)
HCHealth Care and Social Assistance27.6%
EDEducational Services14.8%
MFManufacturing9.9%
PTProfessional, Scientific, and Technical Services6.7%
ADAdministrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services5.8%
PAPublic Administration5.6%
AFAccommodation and Food Services4.9%
COConstruction3.9%
RTRetail Trade3.7%
Connectivity

Internet options for Rochester

The biggest home-internet providers in the area — tap any to compare local plans.

5 providers · 2 with fiber
Speed availabilityshare of homes a plan reaches
1 Gbps~all homes
2 Gbps94%
5 Gbps94%
8 Gbps75%
See all internet providers in Rochester

FindBetterInternet is a CensusFlow partner site — we link out so you can compare local plans, and CensusFlow’s Census data stays independent. Provider data is from the FCC National Broadband Map (satellite + fixed wireless excluded).