Rensselaer County is part of the Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its county seat is Troy. As of the 2010 census there were 161,129 people, 62694 households, and 39,989 families residing in the county. The median income for a household was $42,905, and the median income for a family was $52,864.
Rensselaer County is in the eastern part of New York State. The eastern boundary of Rensselaer County runs along the New York-Vermont and New York-Massachusetts borders. The terrain runs from level and flat near the Hudson River and then rises into the Rensselaer Plateau around Poestenkill and Sand Lake, then to the Taconic Mountains along the Massachusetts state line.