Work & commute · Rensselaer

Work & commute in Rensselaer, NY

Most working residents leave Rensselaer for work: only 5% work in town. The top destinations are Albany (28%), Colonie (13%) and East Greenbush (10%). Half commute less than 6 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

202 of 4,165 working residents

Typical commute

6 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

22 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

14%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 3,963 Rensselaer residents head out of town to work, 202 work right here, and 1,479 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Rensselaer.

3,963live here, work elsewhere

202live and work here

1,479work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Rensselaer goes to work

Albany3.7 mi away

28%1,156

Colonie7 mi away

13%558

East Greenbush3.3 mi away

10%398

New York137.6 mi away

6%243

Rensselaer (in town)right here

5%202

Troy6.7 mi away

3%140

Bethlehem6.6 mi away

3%110

Schodack8.4 mi away

2%90

North Greenbush3.5 mi away

2%79

Schenectady14.7 mi away

2%78

Everywhere elseother towns and states

27%1,111

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Rensselaer commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

68%

10%

17%

68%Under 10 mi

10%10–24 mi

5%25–50 mi

17%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Rensselaer is a commuter town

0.40jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.40 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Rensselaer are

1,681 jobs are based in Rensselaer. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Rensselaer’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Rensselaer

1,681 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)31%

Trade, transport & utilities14%

Services (health, schools, offices…)55%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month67%

Jobs Rensselaer residents hold

4,165 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)12%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)69%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month64%

+4%

Jobs based in Rensselaer, 2013 → 2023: 1,620 → 1,681. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.