160,749 people (2024 Census estimate, −0.1% since 2020)
652 square miles of land · 246 people per square mile
“Highest” and “lowest” are just order, not grades: a high rank for poverty or hazard losses means more of it. Each figure's source is in its section below.
38 active community water systems list Rensselaer County in the area they serve, reporting 113,928 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| TROY CITY PWS surface water · local government · NY4100050 | 51,401 served |
| EAST GREENBUSH GENERAL W.D. buys surface water · local government · NY4100051 | 15,843 served |
| NORTH GREENBUSH CONSOLIDATED DISTRICT buys surface water · local government · NY4130243 | 10,226 served |
| RENSSELAER CITY PWS buys surface water · local government · NY4100044 | 9,300 served |
| BRUNSWICK CONSOLIDATED WATER DISTRICT buys surface water · local government · NY4110144 | 7,050 served |
| HOOSICK FALLS (V) PWS groundwater · local government · NY4100041 | 4,925 served |
| CASTLETON VILLAGE PWS groundwater · local government · NY4100035 | 2,413 served |
| SCHAGHTICOKE CONSOLIDATED WD #1 buys surface water · local government · NY4100046 | 1,975 served |
Source: U.S. EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), active community systems, . Look up any system's violations and test results with EPA's search using its ID.
About 181 people were held in Rensselaer County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2026). In 2021 it was about 183.
Source: Vera Institute of Justice, Incarceration Trends (built from federal Bureau of Justice Statistics jail surveys). Counties without their own jail, or that share one, may show no figure.
12 school districts have their office in Rensselaer County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $112.6 million — $95.7 million to run schools, about $23,237 per student, plus $11.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $64.1 million local (mostly property tax), $36.1 million state, $4.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $14.3 million.
Spent $150 million — $122.8 million to run schools, about $33,415 per student, plus $13.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $40 million local (mostly property tax), $82.2 million state, $21.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $72.1 million.
Spent $69.9 million — $60.4 million to run schools, about $23,099 per student, plus $5.9 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $34.1 million local (mostly property tax), $30.2 million state, $3.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $12.9 million.
Spent $63.6 million — $58.4 million to run schools, about $27,395 per student, plus $1.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $15.6 million local (mostly property tax), $40.7 million state, $8.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $24.2 million.
Spent $35.4 million — $25.1 million to run schools, about $22,448 per student, plus $9.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $15.6 million local (mostly property tax), $13.3 million state, $2.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $6.1 million.
Spent $28.4 million — $24.8 million to run schools, about $23,328 per student, plus $138,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $10.7 million local (mostly property tax), $18.9 million state, $4.3 million federal.
Spent $32.6 million — $25.9 million to run schools, about $24,542 per student, plus $6.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $10.2 million local (mostly property tax), $15.4 million state, $3.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $1.5 million.
Spent $27.9 million — $23.7 million to run schools, about $26,074 per student, plus $1.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $15 million local (mostly property tax), $11.4 million state, $1.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $23.5 million.
And 4 more.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Survey of School System Finances. Districts are listed by the county of their main office; some serve neighboring counties too.
Source: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025 (University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute), which gathers federal data (CDC, Census, and others); measures cover different recent years. Blank lines aren't reported for small counties.
Overall risk: Relatively Moderate compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Rensselaer County about $49 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Relatively Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
269 bridges in Rensselaer County: 70 in good condition, 150 fair, and 49 poor (18.2%). “Poor” means a main part — the deck, the beams, or the supports — is rated 4 or lower on the federal 0–9 scale. It doesn't mean unsafe to drive; unsafe bridges are closed.
| RTE 9 over 90I 90I 1402 2074 RTE I · built 1973 | 20,828 vehicles a day |
| RTE 66 over POESTEN KILL · built 1875 | 13,429 vehicles a day |
| RTE I90 over RTE 203 · built 1957 | 12,236 vehicles a day |
| RTE I90 over RTE 203 · built 1957 | 11,451 vehicles a day |
| RTE 7 over SHINGLE HLLOW BRK · built 1932 | 10,052 vehicles a day |
| RTE 67 over BERKSHIRE and EASTERN RA · built 1970 | 3,577 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $80 million of work in Rensselaer County in fiscal 2025, about $496 per resident — to the county, cities, schools, hospitals, nonprofits and others.
Source: USAspending.gov, grants by place of performance, fiscal 2025 (Oct. 2024 to Sept. 2025). Search it by county to see each award.
From Grants.gov: posted grants listing county governments as eligible, soonest deadline first; research-only and overseas programs left out; list updated 2026-10-13, refreshed weekly. 62 are open in all. Cities, towns, school districts and nonprofits have their own lists there.
Registration deadlines, early voting and polling places for New York are on the federal site vote.gov, which links to the state's official election office.
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Rensselaer County come from the county's own records, which we haven't gathered — not gathered, never hidden. See what a full county site looks like, or ask to have Rensselaer County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of New York: the state government and every county in New York.
Nearby counties: Albany County (25 mi) · Berkshire County, MA (28 mi) · Schenectady County (28 mi) · Bennington County, VT (30 mi) · Saratoga County (32 mi) · Columbia County (32 mi).