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ACT Rochester Regional Report Card shows improvement needed in several areas
ACT Rochester Regional Report Card shows improvement needed in several areas
Listen to this articleACT Rochester has released its annual Regional Report Card, which shows that the nine-county Rochester region trails the state as a whole in six of the eight areas analyzed.
As a region, in the categories of children and youth, economic security and public safety, Rochester fares up to 10 percent worse than the state, while in the categories of the economy, education and health, the region is worse than New York State by more than 10 percent.
The good news is that in the areas of community vitality and housing, the Rochester region fared better than the state as a whole.
But in terms of long-term trends, the region improved by more than 1 percent in just four areas: children and youth, education, health and public safety. The region declined by 1 percent or more in the areas of community vitality, economic security, economy and housing.
The report card shows that the region is growing more diverse, with 83 percent of residents reporting their race as white in 2014-2018, compared with 85 percent in 2000. While the white population decreased by 2 percent, the Hispanic population increased by 67 percent, the Asian population increased by 52 percent and the African American population increased by 13 percent between 2000 and 2014-2018.
The report shows that the median household income was $57,400 in 2014-2018, a decrease of 12 percent from 2000. That’s lower than the state’s median household income of $65,300 and $60,300 in the nation. The city of Rochester had the lowest median income in the region and the highest rate of poverty, with one-third of its residents living below the poverty line.
Between 2010 and 2018, the region gained back the 17,000 jobs it had lost during the Great Recession of 2008-2010, and the region’s unemployment rate declined to 4.2 percent in 2018.
Data for the various indicators in the report card are from different years, ranging from 2016 to 2019 and are compiled by the Center for Governmental Research Inc. The report card can be found at ACT Rochester‘s website.
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