General Overview

Genesee County is showing mixed progress. Despite population loss, Genesee County is becoming increasingly diverse and remains a regional leader in tourism. 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: pre-kindergarten participation has increased, graduation rates are high, 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, alcohol-related crashes, and children living in poverty.

Demographic Overview

Genesee County's population has been declining throughout the decade, with a 4% decrease since 2000. However, Genesee is not alone in this loss—all counties in the region except Ontario experienced an overall decline in population. In 2000, Genesee County was home to just under 60,400 residents, but by 2009 this was down to roughly 57,900.

Similar to other counties in the upstate region, Genesee County is experiencing substantial declines in its number of youths and younger adults. Between 2000 and 2008, the number of residents younger than 20 years declined 18% and the 21-to-39 range declined 10%.  However, the number of adults 85+ has increased 28%, consistent with state, national and regional trends. The 40-to-59 age group is now the largest in the county, accounting for 30% of the county's population.  With the baby boomers approaching retirement, Genesee will face the growing need for sufficient elder care and support services in light of a decreasing tax base.

While Genesee County is growing more racially and ethnically diverse, it remains about 94% white. Genesee's Hispanic population increased by 42% (to about 1,300 residents) between 2000 and 2008, the second largest increase of any area county, yet still the lowest in terms of the number of Hispanic residents in the region. The population of Asians and of African American or blacks each grew by 15%, while the population of residents with two or more races increased by 31%. The population of whites decreased by 5%, typical of all counties in the region with the exception of Ontario.

From 2000 to 2006-08, Genesee County followed national and state trends with a decline in the share of households of married couples (with or without children) and an increase in unmarried households with children. In 2006-08, about 21% of households in the county were married couples with children living at home, down from 26% in 2000. In the same time period, unmarried households with children grew as a share of the total, from 8% in 2000 to 10% in 2006-08.

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 the region. In 2008, $1,570 per resident was spent in Genesee County, well above the regional rate of $1,200 and not far below the state rate (excluding New York City) of $1,760 per resident. Genesee's rate has shown moderate increases over the past 4 years, with only Ontario County attracting more tourism dollars per capita in the region.

Children and Youth

Since 2000, Genesee has typically had one of the lowest rates of mothers receiving early prenatal care, relative to other counties in the region. In 2008, 73% of mothers received prenatal care in the first trimester, up 4 percentage points since 2000. This is on par with the state, but below the rate for the region (77%). The rates of early care varied among racial and ethnic groups in the county, with three-quarters of white and African American or black mothers receiving early prenatal care, while just over half of Hispanic mothers and mothers of other races did.

The proportion of low birth-weight babies is decreasing in Genesee County. While the county had one of the highest rates in the region in 2006 (7.8%), the rate has declined steadily to 4.9% in 2008.

In 2006-08, 17% of Genesee County's children were living in poverty, a 7-point increase of 700 children compared to 2000.  With this increase, the proportion of children living in poverty in Genesee is now almost at the levels of the state and nation, which have both remained fairly steady over the same time period.

Genesee has had faster growth in the proportion of children living in single-parent households compared to other counties in the region, the state and nation.  Single-parent households grew from 23% in 2000 to 31% in 2006-08, an increase by about 2,000 children.

Similar to the declines in the state and region, Persons In Need of Supervision (PINS) petitions in the county have decreased substantially since 2000.  Genesee's rate declined by nearly 70% compared to 2000 with 7.6 PINS petitions per 1,000 youth to a rate of 2.4 in 2008  Genesee consistently had 28-55 petitions each year from 2000 to 2005, yet for the past 3 years, a maximum of 15 petitions have been filed each year.  Although juvenile delinquency intakes had shown a moderate decrease through 2006, the rate of intakes in 2008 returned to 2000 levels with a rate of 125 intakes per 10,000 youth (ages 7-16).

Genesee County youth have slightly higher rates of school, community, and religious involvement than their regional counterparts—only youth in Ontario report higher rates. These self-reported data are gathered through youth asset surveys conducted in the individual counties. In Genesee in 2008, 76% of youth report being involved in their community, 81% with school, and 45% with religion.  These rates have each increased since the 2006 survey administration.

Community Engagement

From 2000 to 2009, the proportion of registered voters in Genesee County has declined 7 points to 81%. However, in 2008 60% of registered voters actually voted, making Genesee the third highest in the region after Monroe and Ontario which both had a rate of 63%.  

The average level of charitable giving declined slightly in Genesee, dropping from $2,508 in 2002, to $2,457 in 2006. Despite the 2% decline, Genesee residents are the third highest donors in the region after Monroe and Ontario.

Economy

Genesee County has felt the repercussions of the economic crisis of 2007-2010.  Unemployment jumped to 7.6% in 2009, the highest rate this decade by two percentage points. Despite the increase, Genesee had the second lowest unemployment rate in the region and remains well below the rates for the state and nation.  

While Genesee has seen little change in the overall job market over the past decade, individual sectors reflect a larger transition from manufacturing to knowledge-based industry. The sectors in the county with the largest increase in total businesses from 2000 to 2008 were Leisure & Hospitality (10.3%) and Educational Services (150%).  Natural Resources & Mining, Manufacturing, and Trade, Transportation & Utilities 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 2008, the average salary of $32,170 represented an increase of 3.6% since 2000. This growth was roughly half of the state's rate of growth and slightly higher than the nation's.

Education

Genesee County has seen a dramatic increase in pre-kindergarten participation in recent years. From 2006 to 2007, Genesee County quadrupled the number of children enrolled in pre-K, from 65 to 235, and increased again to 362 in 2008. This increase resulted in an overall participation rate of 52% in 2008. This is noticeably higher than the regional rate (33%) and also above the state rate (40%). Before 2007, Genesee's rates consistently remained between 10% and 16%, 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 the region and state, particularly on the eighth grade exams. For example, 77% of low-income eighth-grade students in Genesee met or exceeded standards on the state's math test in 2009, compared to 66% throughout the region and 70% statewide. In 2009, 80% of Genesee County students graduated on time, on par with the state.

Genesee County adults ages 25 and over have lower educational attainment levels than the region, state or nation. In 2006-08, 51% of Genesee residents had attended at least some college, below the region (58%), state (55%) and nation (55%). In general, there were improvements from 2000 to 2006-08, when the percent of residents with less than a ninth-grade education fell by 5 percentage points.

Environment

Genesee County is seeing improvements in its environmental measures. Similar to other counties in the region, vehicle emissions in Genesee County have decreased 16% in four years, from 80 tons per square mile in 2002 to 67 in 2005.  Total emissions have also decreased in the county by 17% over this same time period. From 2003 to 2005, the prevalence of pesticides also dropped by 12% to just over 388,000 total pounds applied in 2005. 

Financial Self-Sufficiency

Like all counties in the region, Genesee County's median household income decreased from 2000 to 2006-08. After adjusting for inflation, the median household income in 2006-08 was about $48,300 — down from $52,200 in 2000. While incomes nationwide experienced a similar decrease, the median income for the state changed very little.

Although poverty rates increased across the region, Genesee County experienced the greatest increase in poverty of all the counties.  From 2000 to 2006-08, the number of people living below the federally-defined poverty line in the county increased by 56% to 2,500 residents.  However, Genesee's poverty rate of 12% remains below the rates for the state (14%) and nation (13%).

Genesee County has seen an increase in residents seeking government support, even before the impact of the recession.  The rate of residents seeking Supplementary Security Income (SSI) has increased 19% over the decade while the number of Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) filings has increase 25% since 2000.  In contrast, the rate of people receiving public assistance has declined since peaking in 2006, in tandem with the rate of children receiving public assistance. Genesee is tied with Monroe for the lowest approval rate for public assistance in the region at 21% in 2009.

Health

In 2006, just over 7,000 Genesee County residents (or 14%), were uninsured, below state and national rates. Genesee typically has one of the higher proportions of residents enrolled in Medicaid (14%) in the region, and saw a 77% increase from 2000 to 2008.

Genesee had the highest collective mortality rate (across all causes) in the region, with 925 deaths per 100,000 residents in 2008. Despite having the highest overall rate, Genesee residents had fewer deaths due to heart disease (-7%) and stroke (-11%), yet experienced an increase in deaths related to respiratory disease (13%).

All counties in the region have seen a substantial increase in reported cases of Chlamydia, including Genesee with its rate more than doubling from 2000 to 2008.  Genesee has also seen an increase in the number of people living with HIV and AIDS. People living with HIV more than doubled from 2000 to 2007, the largest increase in the region, though the rate remains well below the rates for the region, state, and nation. The rate of people living with AIDS also increased for every county in the region, but at a much lower rate, with Genesee posting the second-lowest rate of increase of AIDS cases in the region.

More people are being admitted to alcohol/substance abuse programs in the county. From 2000 to 2008, Genesee County had an 89% increase in the rate of residents admitted to treatment programs, growing from 103 admitted per 10,000 residents to 194 over the same time period. Since 2004, Genesee has had the highest rate in the region after Monroe County.

Housing

Genesee was one of two counties in the region to experience a decline in median home value. Between 2000 and 2006-08, the median home value in Genesee fell by 5% to $98,050. Genesee's affordability ratio (home value to income) was 1.77, which makes it much more affordable than the state (4.12) or nation (2.96), and just slightly more affordable than the region as a whole (1.84).

Genesee County has one of the lowest rates of residential building permits in the region, declining 47% between 2000 and 2008. However, the rate of non-residential permits is comparatively higher, ranking third in the region.

Nearly three-quarters of residents in Genesee County own their own homes, similar to the rates of peer counties, but well above the rates for the state (56%) and nation (67%). Homeownership in Genesee varies widely by race and ethnicity. American Indian/Alaska Native (81%) and white (74%) residents were the most likely to own their own homes.  However, the homeownership rate for Asian residents was just 58% and for African American or black residents only 28%, the lowest in the region.

Public Safety

In general, Genesee County's crime rates have decreased, consistent with state and national trends. Since 2000, Genesee has seen a decline in property crimes (-5%), serious crimes (-4%) and other reported rimes (-17%). However, the rate of violent crimes has increased by 13% and reports of domestic violence have increased by more than half.

Like other counties in the region, Genesee is faced with an increasing demand for emergency services.  Calls to 911 increased by about 20% between 2000 and 2008, and in 2009, the consolidation with Batavia made demand for services rise even higher to just over 9,400 calls up from 6,800 calls the previous year.  More than 40% of fires in Genesee County are structure fires, approximately 190 out of the 450 in 2008. Genesee has a higher rate of fires than most other counties in the region, and has seen its rate rise by two thirds since 2000.

Technology

Genesee County doubled its high-tech jobs (as share of total jobs) from 2000 to 2008. While this represents very small growth (from 1.1% in 2000 to 2.2% in 2008), it is notable as both the state and the nation experienced downturns during this time.

Although Genesee County has one of the lower rates of full-time technology teachers per 10,000 students in the region, it has shown remarkable consistency in this measure, remaining between 11 and 12 teachers throughout the decade, while most counties in the region have fluctuated.  Genesee's rate also remained above the state rate throughout this time period.

Transportation

Genesee County residents primarily rely on cars and have short commutes. In 2006-08, similar to the region 93% of Genesee residents had access to a vehicle and 95% of workers drove to work (alone or carpool). The average commute time for a Genesee resident was 22 minutes in 2006-08, nearly ten minutes shorter than the state average.

However, Genesee consistently has high rates of both personal injury and alcohol-related crashes. Since 2000, Genesee County has posted the highest rates of personal injury crashes in our region, exceeding the state rate in all years except 2001. There was, however, a 14% overall reduction from 2000 to 2008.

Since 2000, Genesee has consistently had one of the highest rates in the region for alcohol-related crashes, more than triple the state's rate in 2008. From 2000 to 2008, Genesee had an average of 57 alcohol-related crashes a year, a rate of about 10 crashes per 10,000 residents.

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