General Overview

Genesee County is showing mixed progress. Despite population loss and household incomes below  state and nation levels, Genesee County has a low proportion of residents living in poverty and it is one of the few counties in the region to see an increase in residential building. Genesee has the second lowest rate in the region of residents lacking health insurance, and most crime rates have declined. Youth are doing well on several measures: proportionately fewer children in Genesee live in poverty, graduation rates are high, both teen pregnancy and cases of Persons In Need of Supervision (PINS) are down, and high proportions of youth report healthy community involvement. However, areas of concern among the population as a whole include notable increases in measures of sexually transmitted diseases, substance abuse treatment and drug arrests, alcohol-related crashes and public assistance rates.
 

Demographic Overview

Genesee and Wyoming are the only counties in the area to have an overall loss of population since 1990. During this time period, the region as a whole grew by 2% while Genesee County lost 3% of its population. In 1990, Genesee County was home to just over 60,000 residents, but by 2007 this was down to roughly 58,100.

Genesee County's population is aging. The number of adults 40 to 59 years old increased by 33% from 1990 to 2007, making it the largest segment of the population and generally consistent with regional, state and national trends. Among counties in the region, Genesee had the lowest increase in the 60-to-84 age range (5%), on par with the state but lower than the nation (21%) or the region (11%). However, Genesee County had a 73% percent increase in the number of senior residents 85 and older. Although this group represents only 2% of the total county population, the dramatic increase highlights the growing need for sufficient elder care and support services.

Similar to other counties in the upstate region, Genesee County is experiencing substantial declines in its number of youths and younger adults. Since 1990, the number of residents between 20 and 39 years old fell 23% in Genesee County, more than the state decrease of 11% and counter to a national increase of 1%. There were 4,200 fewer people aged 20-39 in the county in 2007 than there were in 1990. The number of children and young adults under 20 also declined by 18% since 1990, which is the second-highest decline in regional counties and is counter to increases in the nation (16%) and state (4%) in that segment of the population.

Genesee County experienced small growth in minority populations, although it remains about 95% white. Genesee County's black population increased by 10% (to about 1,500 residents) between 2000 and 2007, the largest increase of any area county. Hispanic, Asian and "two or more race" residents all increased by at least 20%.

From 1990 to 2000, Genesee County followed national and state trends with a decline in the share of households of married couples with children and an increase in unmarried households with children. In 2000, about 26% of households in the county were married couples with children living at home, down from 30% in 1990. In the same time period, unmarried households with children grew as a share of the total, from 6% to 8%.

Photo provided by Harry Scull/Darien Lake Theme Park Resort

Arts, Culture and Leisure 

Genesee County consistently draws in more tourism spending than most other counties. In 2007, just under $1,500 per resident was spent in Genesee County. This exceeds the regional rate of $1,200 and is not far below the state (excluding New York City) of $1,700 per resident. Genesee's rate has been roughly consistent for the last three years, with only Ontario County attracting more tourism dollars per capita in the region.


Children and Youth

Since 1997, Genesee has typically had one of the lowest rates of pregnant women receiving early prenatal care, relative to other counties in the region. In 2006, 74% of women received prenatal care in the first trimester, a 10% increase from 67% in 1997. This is on par with the state, but below the region (77%). These rates do vary by racial or ethnic group, with only 50% of black women, 65% of Hispanic women and 74% of white women receiving care in 2006.

The number of low birth-weight babies is increasing in Genesee County. Between 1997 and 2006, there has been a 50% increase in the proportion of babies born at a low birth weight, far exceeding the regional and state increases of 14% and 6% respectively.

In 2000, Genesee County had a lower proportion of children living in poverty than the region, state or nation. In 1990, 10% of Genesee County's children lived in households with incomes below the poverty line, and this decreased to 9% in 2000. This was the lowest percentage of any of the regional counties and well below the state (20%) and national (17%) levels. Poverty rates in the county vary among racial and ethnic groups, with 39% of black children and 43% of Hispanic children living in poverty, compared to just 8% of white children.

Since 2000, teen pregnancy rates have declined significantly and were less than half the state rate in 2006. Genesee County had a 57% decrease in the number of pregnant teens, down from 44 teen pregnancies in 2000 to just 19 in 2006. All counties in the region have had consistently lower teen pregnancy rates than the state throughout this decade.

While the rate of Persons In Need of Supervision (PINS) increased in the region from 2000 to 2007, Genesee County's rate decreased by almost 50%. The bulk of this drop occurred between 2005 and 2006, with the 2007 number remaining low. In 2005, 110 children were PINS-designated compared to 47 children in 2007.

Slightly higher percentages of youth in Genesee County report involvement with family, school, community or religion than in Wyoming or Orleans counties. This self-reported data is gathered through youth asset surveys conducted in the individual counties. In Genesee, 67 percent of youth report being involved in their community; 56% say they are involved with their family; 72% are involved at school; and 41% are involved with religion.


Economy

Genesee County is part of the larger transition from manufacturing to knowledge-based industry. The sectors with the largest growth since 2001 were Financial Activities (21.8%), Construction (15%), and Educational Services (14.6%). Farming, Natural Resources & Mining, and Manufacturing all contracted, generally consistent with trends in the larger economy.

After declining from 2000 to 2004, Genesee County's average salary, adjusted for inflation, has been rising since 2004. In 2007, the average salary of $31,400 represented an increase of 3% over 1999, which was one of the larger increases in the region. This growth was roughly half of the nation's rate of growth and one-quarter of the state's.


Education

Genesee County's pre-kindergarten participation spiked in 2007. From 2006 to 2007, Genesee County quadrupled the number of children enrolled in pre-K, from 65 to 235. This dramatic increase resulted in an overall participation rate of 40%. This is just above the regional rate (38%) and just below the state rate (41%). Before 2007, Genesee's rates ranged from 11% (in 2006) to 15% (multiple years), even after New York State enacted a law in 1998 to provide public support for prekindergarten programs.

Similar to students throughout our region, students in Genesee County outperform those across the state on most key state tests and graduate at higher rates. In recent years, Genesee County has done a slightly better job in low-income student performance than other area counties. For example, 75% of fourth-grade students in Genesee met or exceeded standards on the state's math test in 2007, compared to 63% throughout the region. In 2007, 79% of Genesee County students graduated on time, compared to 76% in the region and 70% statewide.

Genesee County adults ages 25 and over have lower educational attainment levels than the region, state or nation. In 2000, 46% of Genesee residents had attended at least some college, below the region (57%), state (51%) and nation (52%). About 10% of adults in Genesee held bachelor's degrees and 6% held graduate degrees; these numbers are lower than the region, state and nation. In general, there were improvements from 1990 to 2000, when the percent of residents with less than a ninth-grade education fell by 33% while the proportion of residents with graduate degrees rose by 18%.


Financial Self-Sufficiency

Genesee County's median household income decreased in 2000. After adjusting for inflation, the median household income in 2000 was $50,500 — down from $51,800 in 1990. Genesee was one of three counties in the region to see the median income decrease (3%), a bit more than the state's 2% drop.
Genesee County has a less financially vulnerable population than many other counties in the region. Along with Ontario and Wyoming counties, Genesee had the lowest proportion of people living in poverty in 2000 (8%, up from 7% in 1990). This was well under both the state's rate of 15% and the nation's of 12%. Poverty rates vary among racial and ethnic groups. The poverty rate was roughly five times higher for black and Hispanic residents than it was for white residents. Additionally, the number of emergency meals received per resident in Genesee County has been the lowest of all counties since 2004.

There are some recent increases in residents seeking government support, even before the impact of the current recession. In 2005, 14% of residents claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit, just below the region and state levels. However, this reflects a 23% increase since 2000, the largest increase of any county, and exceeds the increase of the state. Similarly, Genesee is one of four counties in our region to see an increase in the number of people receiving public assistance, though it is still well below region and state rates. In 2007, 11 of every 1,000 Genesee County residents received assistance, up from 10 per 1,000 in 2001. This compares to a30 per 1,000 at the regional level and 28 per 1,000 at the state level. Genesee also has the second lowest approval rate in the region.


Health

In 2005, Genesee County had the second-lowest rate in the region of people without health insurance, although the number of uninsured is increasing. Only 9% of Genesee County residents were uninsured in 2005, below the regional, state and national rates. Genesee typically has one of the higher proportions of residents enrolled in Medicaid in the region, and saw an 83% increase from 2000 to 2007.

Every county in the region has seen a steady decline in mortality rates since 2000, though Genesee increased in one category. Genesee residents had declines in mortality rates from heart disease (-28%), respiratory disease (-42%), and stroke (-40%), which was the largest reduction of all counties except Wyoming. Genesee was one of only two counties in the region to see an increase in the cancer mortality rate (5%).

Genesee County seems to be experiencing a rise in the incidence of gonorrhea, although the numbers are small enough to require caution in interpreting trends. The recent spike in gonorrhea contrasts to decreases in all other counties but one, and reductions at both the state and national levels. Genesee County was second only to Monroe County in gonorrhea cases in both 2005 and 2006, with 47 and 42 per 100,000 residents respectively.

Genesee County has seen an increase in the number of people living with HIV and AIDS since 2000. The rate of people living with HIV tripled from 13 per 100,000 residents in 2000 to 39 in 2006. Although this represents a small number of actual people with HIV, it is a substantial increase, and much larger than the rate of increase in other counties, the state or nation. The rate of those living with AIDS has also increased, by 25% over the same period.

More people are being admitted to alcohol/substance abuse programs. From 2000 to 2007, Genesee County had an 83% increase in the rate of residents admitted to treatment programs, growing from 103 admitted per 10,000 residents to 188 over the same time period. Since 2004, Genesee has had the highest rate in the region after Monroe County.


Housing

Between 1990 and 2000, the median home value in Genesee fell by 4% to $99,600, the third lowest in the region. Genesee's affordability ratio (home value to income) was 1.99, which makes it much more affordable than the state (3.32) or nation (2.76), and just slightly more affordable than the region as a whole (2.09).

Genesee and Ontario are the only counties in our region that increased the rate of residential building permits issued since 2000, although the bulk of housing stock was built before 1980. As of 2000, 83% of Genesee's housing stock was built prior to 1980, which is about on par with the state's 85%, but is much higher than the nation's 67%. Genesee has seen an increase (17%) in the number of residential permits it issued since 2000, which is notable against the region's almost 30% decrease in the same period.

In 2000, Genesee County had among the lowest homeownership rates in our region. In 2000, 73% of all occupied housing units in Genesee County were owner-occupied. This homeownership rate was higher than the 2000 national rate (66%) and state rate (53%), but was the lowest in the region after Monroe County.


Public Safety

In general, Genesee County's crime rates have decreased, despite a spike from 2002 to 2004. Similar to state and national trends, Genesee County has seen a decline in serious crime (-9%), property crime (-10%), and other reported crime (-4%) since 2000. Juvenile delinquency intakes also have decreased by 24%. The one exception to this pattern is in felony drug arrests, which grew by 57%. In 2000, there were 41 arrests per 100,000 residents; this number has been 65 or higher for each year since 2004.

Genesee County had a larger increase in both total fires and structure fires than the region or the nation. Total fires increased by 72% between 2000 and 2006, while structure fires (e.g., residences, offices) increased by almost 60%. In 2000, there were fewer than 250 structure fires per 100,000 residents, but by 2006 there were nearly 400. This exceeds the regional increase and is counter to the national decrease of 2%.


Technology

Genesee County increased its high-tech jobs (as share of total jobs) by 74% from 2000 to 2006. This represents very small growth from .9% in 2000 to 1.5% in 2006, but is notable as both the state and the nation experienced downturns during this time.

The number of full-time technology teachers per 10,000 students has increased slightly since 2000, but is below the regional ratio. In 2006, Genesee County had 12 technology teachers for every 10,000 public school students, putting it below the region but above the state's ratio of 10. This is one of the lower rates among counties in our region.


Transportation

Genesee County residents primarily rely on cars and have roads in good quality. In 2000, 93% of residents had access to a vehicle, on par with the region, and 95% of workers drove to work. For the last two years, Genesee has had the lowest public transit ridership of any county in the region, with 1.3 rides per resident. For each of the last two years, compared to other counties in our region, Genesee and Wyoming have had the smallest percentage of roads rated "poor" by the New York state Department of Transportation.

However, Genesee consistently has high rates of both personal injury and alcohol-related crashes. Since 2002, Genesee County has posted the highest rates of personal injury crashes in our region and exceeded the state rate. There was, however, a 25% reduction from 2006 to 2007. Since 1998, Genesee has consistently had high rates of alcohol-related crashes that cause personal injury or death. Its rate is typically close to three times as high as the state, and often double the region's rate. Since 1998, Genesee has had an average of nearly 50 alcohol-related crashes a year.


Note: Data research and analysis conducted by the Center for Governmental Research.