12306 — Rotterdam, New York
Area Profile
Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 12306.
Missing required signal: growth. AreaProfile withholds a score rather than inferring the missing dimensions.
Housing is more affordable relative to local incomes than in most published city profiles: rent takes 18% of median household income and the median home is 2.7 times it.
Natural-hazard exposure is lower than in most comparable published ZIP profiles, placing 12306 in the top 17% for physical resilience.
A major airport is 13 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.
At a glance
Jobs & opportunity
Unemployment of 3.9% is lower than 71% of the 6,544 measured US ZIP areas.
Employment fell 0.4% over the past year, to 76,061 employed residents.
| Metric | Value | Compared with peers | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income ±$4,865 | $83,202 | Top 34% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Per capita income ±$2,097 | $41,975 | Top 34% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Poverty rate | 8.6% | Bottom 40% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Average commute | 23.6 min | Bottom 28% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Bachelor's degree or higher | 29.8% | Top 35% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Employment | 76,061 | Top 41% | June 2026 |
| Employment change (3 years) | 0.2% | Top 48% | June 2026 |
| Employment change (year over year) | -0.4% | Top 39% | June 2026 |
| Labor force | 79,117 | Top 41% | June 2026 |
| Labor force participation | 66.3% | Top 27% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Mean annual wage | $71,830 | Top 33% | 2025 OEWS |
| Median annual wage | $58,460 | Top 22% | 2025 OEWS |
| Unemployment change (year over year) | 0.4% | Top 36% | June 2026 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.9% | Bottom 29% | June 2026 |
| Occupation | People employed | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Home Health and Personal Care Aides | 13,180 | $37,590 |
| Retail Salespersons | 11,930 | $35,420 |
| Registered Nurses | 10,230 | $99,970 |
| General and Operations Managers | 8,890 | $111,130 |
| Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners | 8,880 | $37,810 |
| Cashiers | 8,570 | $34,290 |
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.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Rotterdam, NY, the city containing this ZIP code.
Schools
How it’s calculated →40% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 53% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.
There are 10.9 students for every full-time teacher, fewer than in most measured places.
| School | District | Students | Per teacher | Math | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JEFFERSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL | SCHALMONT CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT | 671 | 13.2 | 52% | 59% |
| SCHALMONT HIGH SCHOOL | SCHALMONT CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT | 545 | 10.9 | — | — |
| SCHALMONT MIDDLE SCHOOL | SCHALMONT CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT | 537 | 9.6 | 38% | 57% |
| VAN CORLAER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL | SCHENECTADY CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT | 311 | 9.4 | 17% | 31% |
38.4% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.
Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against New York’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.
Housing & affordability
How it’s calculated →Median rent of $1,228 takes 18% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.
A median home costs 2.7 times median household income here, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.
| Metric | Value | Compared with peers | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home price to income | 2.67 | Bottom 36% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Homeownership rate | 68.6% | Bottom 27% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Housing units ±537 | 12,727 | Top 11% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median gross rent ±$77 | $1,228 | Top 34% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median home value ±$8,356 | $222,500 | Top 49% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Rent as a share of income | 17.7% | Top 50% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacancy rate | 6.5% | Bottom 31% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.
Growth & development
How it’s calculated →No building-permit activity is published for this location by the Census Building Permits Survey.
Weather & climate
5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 84°F and January a low of 16°F.
Normal annual precipitation is 40.7 inches, including 59.2 inches of snow.
| Metric | Value | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Annual precipitation | 40.7" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Annual snowfall | 59.2" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average January low | 16°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average July high | 84°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Comfortable months | 5 | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Seasonal temperature swing | 49°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.
Physical risk
The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, hurricane and heat wave.
Low or minimal exposure: lightning, tornado, earthquake, strong wind, hail, winter weather, cold wave, landslide, wildfire, avalanche.
Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.
Safety
How it’s measured →These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.
Schenectady County records 2.4 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.
Firearm deaths of all intents run at 6.3 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.
Drug overdose deaths run at 18.1 per 100,000 residents in Schenectady County.
Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.
Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Schenectady County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around 12306 rather than 12306 itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.
What this profile does not cover
Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.
- Reported crime
- The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
- Taxes
- No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
- Full cost of living
- No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.
Access
5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 13 miles away.
| Airport | Code | Distance | Longest runway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Albany Intl | ALB | 13 mi | 8,500 ft |
| Griffiss Intl | RME | 75 mi | 11,820 ft |
| Westfield-Barnes Rgnl | BAF | 81 mi | 9,000 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.
Customize your score
What matters to you?
Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.
Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.
Similar places
Matched on AreaProfile signals, not geographyCompare
Put 12306 side by side with a similar place.
Data & methodology
| Used for | Source | Source period | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access | Federal Aviation Administration Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service | NASR current cycle | 28-day NASR cycle |
| Physical risk | Federal Emergency Management Agency National Risk Index | National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0) | Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current) |
| Climate | NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly) | 1991-2020 Normals | Every ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period) |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics | 2025 OEWS | Annual (spring release) |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics | June 2026 | Monthly |
| Demographics, Housing, Income, Jobs | U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File) | 2024 ACS 5-Year | Annual (5-year estimates released each December) |
| safety | U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics Provisional county-level mortality by intent | April, 2025 to March, 2026 | Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years |
| schools | U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments | 2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school year | Directory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them |
Profile recalculated August 30, 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 browse every source.
12306 vs Rotterdam
How this ZIP area compares with Rotterdam as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.
Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.