Ontario County, NY

County Profile

112,625 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Ontario County, NY.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

73out of 100
Area Score
Top 8% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
OpportunityTop 28% of 1,463 counties measured66
SchoolsTop 7% of 1,377 counties measured84
Growth759th of 1,453 counties measured49
Housing affordabilityTop 36% of 1,462 counties measured77
Climate1,065th of 1,463 counties measured61
Physical resilienceTop 4% of 1,463 counties measured93
AccessTop 31% of 1,463 counties measured89
Economic stabilityTop 25% of 1,463 counties measured77
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.6% and median household income $82,324, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

Public schools test above most of the state: 67% of students met the mathematics standard, placing the area in the top 7% of published profiles for schools.

Rent takes 28% of renter income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 2.3 times what its owners earn.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
112,625
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$82,324
Top 15% nationally
Density
175/sq mi
644.1 sq mi of land
Median age
44.2
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Ontario County
New York
Metro area
Nearest major airport
ROC
26 mi · Frederick Douglass/Greater Rochester Intl
Median home value
$222,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.6%, lower than in 70% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 0.6% over the past year, to 53,255 employed residents.

38% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 89% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$79,59582nd percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$70,57478th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$3,0392024 ACS 5-Year$82,324Top 15%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,0682024 ACS 5-Year$46,303Top 10%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$65,226Top 25%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±1.0%2024 ACS 5-Year8.9%Top 20%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.6 min2024 ACS 5-Year23.9 minTop 37%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year38.0%Top 11%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year75.0%33rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202653,255Top 38%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−1.4%Bottom 32%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−0.6%Top 50%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202655,23062nd percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year79.5%Top 30%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year0.3%58th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.2%Bottom 27%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.6%Top 30%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year13.6%82nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/074.52.6
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.6% in July 2026. It has been rising, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202482k71k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $82,324 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — Rochester, NY

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides17,070$35,600
Retail Salespersons12,440$34,650
Registered Nurses12,340$86,570
Fast Food and Counter Workers11,310$33,430
Stockers and Order Fillers9,620$37,940
Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners9,520$37,160

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

67% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 59% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 9.8 students for every full-time teacher across 27 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
27
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
9.8
across all schools here
Math proficiency
66.8%
Top 9% in New York
Reading proficiency
59.5%
Top 32% in New York
The 12 largest of 27 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Canandaigua Primary-Elementary SchoolCANANDAIGUA CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT1,43310.845%38%
Victor Senior High SchoolVICTOR CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT1,31912.198%98%
Canandaigua AcademyCANANDAIGUA CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT99810.3100%95%
Victor Intermediate SchoolVICTOR CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT98911.066%46%
Midlakes Elementary SchoolPHELPS-CLIFTON SPRINGS CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT76110.037%26%
Canandaigua Middle SchoolCANANDAIGUA CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT6878.460%57%
Victor Primary SchoolVICTOR CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT68611.267%54%
Midlakes Middle/high SchoolPHELPS-CLIFTON SPRINGS CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT6779.492%92%
Victor Early Childhood SchoolVICTOR CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT62811.4——
Victor Junior High SchoolVICTOR CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT6059.977%57%
Geneva High SchoolGENEVA CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT60210.292%92%
North Street Elementary SchoolGENEVA CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT49811.321%19%

40.7% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against New York’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 2% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 98.4, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Rochester, NY Metro Area is up 62% over five years, and up 4.5% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $4,565 a year in real estate taxes, about 2.05% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,573, some 37% above the $1,150 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,573 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $62,900 a year, about 76% of the median household income here of $82,324.

The typical renter household here spends 28% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,150 a month.

A median home at $222,900 costs 2.3 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $97,623, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
98.4

Prices here run about 2% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Rochester, NY Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
28.2%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.3×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,573
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,150
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$222,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Ontario County’s median household income of $82,324, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Rochester, NY Metro Area’s figure202398.4Bottom 31%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Rochester, NY Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+4.5%69th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Rochester, NY Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+61.9%98th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Rochester, NY Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+117.1%86th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year2.3Top 37%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year73.7%45th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1202024 ACS 5-Year53,37983rd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,256Bottom 24%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,895Bottom 27%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,573Bottom 22%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$352024 ACS 5-Year$1,150Bottom 19%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$5,0792024 ACS 5-Year$222,90064th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1272024 ACS 5-Year$4,56595th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$3,1012024 ACS 5-Year$97,623Top 16%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.07%2024 ACS 5-Year2.05%98th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year28.2%Bottom 46%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±3252024 ACS 5-Year2,24186th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year4.2%61st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year5.3%19th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±5162024 ACS 5-Year5,06880th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

49/ 100
Ranks 759 of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was upward, in a series running from 2020 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 1% since 2020, reaching 113,012 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 422 units authorized in 2025, up 49% on the prior year.

Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Ontario County in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $79,595, above the $70,574 of households that moved out.

At 3.6 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
410
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
3.6
Top 40% nationally
Year over year
+17%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
25.4%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024113k112k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been rising for the last 2 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.1%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
29%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$79,595
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$70,574
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Monroe County, NY 1,496 people · 31% of arrivals
  2. Wayne County, NY 498 people · 10% of arrivals
  3. Yates County, NY 251 people · 5.2% of arrivals
  4. Seneca County, NY 235 people · 4.9% of arrivals
  5. Livingston County, NY 152 people · 3.2% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Monroe County, NY 1,156 people · 24% of departures
  2. Wayne County, NY 530 people · 11% of departures
  3. Seneca County, NY 253 people · 5.3% of departures
  4. Yates County, NY 222 people · 4.7% of departures
  5. Livingston County, NY 185 people · 3.9% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

202020212022202320242025533284
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+32%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 81°F and January a low of 18°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 30.2 inches.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station PENN YAN AP, 19.4 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND3.9"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals30.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals18°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals81°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals46°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

93 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, strong wind and tornado, with inland flooding alone responsible for 79% of it. Every one of these is independently rated low or minimal nationally — this describes how a small risk is composed, not a large one.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 96% of measured US counties.

Ice stormModerate
DroughtModerate
HailModerate
Heat waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: inland flooding, strong wind, hurricane, lightning, landslide, earthquake, tornado, avalanche, wildfire, winter weather, cold wave, coastal flooding, tsunami, volcanic activity.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Ontario County has a modeled homicide rate of about 2.4 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 10.7 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 11.6 per 100,000 residents in Ontario County.

Homicide
2.4
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
10.7
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
11.6
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
16.0
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe Ontario County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Frederick Douglass/Greater Rochester Intl at 26 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year91.3%Top 18%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle26 miTop 36%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle5Top 26%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year5.7%Top 15%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Frederick Douglass/Greater Rochester IntlROC26 mi8,001 ft
Elmira/Corning RgnlELM52 mi8,001 ft
Syracuse Hancock IntlSYR63 mi9,013 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
73
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
Housing, IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.