Rensselaer is a somewhat small city located in the state of New York. With a population of 9,248 people and seven associated neighborhoods, Rensselaer is the 198th largest community in New York. Much of the housing stock in Rensselaer was built prior to World War II, making it one of the older and more historic cities in the country.

A relatively large number of people in Rensselaer telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 9.46% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

Even though Rensselaer is a smaller city, it has many people who hop on public transportation – mostly the bus for their daily commute to work. Typically, these people are commuting to good jobs in the surrounding cities.

The percentage of people in Rensselaer who are college-educated is somewhat higher than the average US community of 21.84%: 27.90% of adults in Rensselaer have at least a bachelor's degree.

The per capita income in Rensselaer in 2022 was $38,033, which is middle income relative to New York, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $152,132 for a family of four. However, Rensselaer contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Rensselaer is a very ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Rensselaer home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Rensselaer residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Rensselaer include Irish, Italian, German, English, and French.

The most common language spoken in Rensselaer is English. Other important languages spoken here include Polish and Spanish.