Rochester, New York

Rochester is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County, in the Finger Lakes region of western New York State. It is the fourth-most populous city in New York, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 Census. The Rochester metropolitan area has an estimated 1.06 million residents and is the 54th-largest metropolitan area in the United States. Rochester sits on the southern shore of Lake Ontario at the mouth of the Genesee River, approximately 90 miles east of Buffalo and 90 miles west of Syracuse along the Erie Canal corridor.

Founding and History

The city takes its name from Colonel Nathaniel Rochester, a Revolutionary War soldier and Maryland landowner who acquired land in the Genesee River valley in the early 1800s. Rochester was one of the United States’ first boomtowns, initially due to the fertile Genesee River valley which gave rise to numerous flour mills, and then as a manufacturing center, which spurred further rapid population growth. The completion of the Erie Canal in 1825 — which passed directly through the city — supercharged that growth, making Rochester a critical link in the commerce between the Great Lakes and New York City. So swift was its rise that the city was incorporated in 1834 and quickly earned the nickname “Young Lion of the West.”

The flour milling trade dominated the local economy through much of the nineteenth century, earning the city its first lasting nickname, “the Flour City.” By mid-century, however, horticulture had grown into a rival identity. Starting in the 1850s, horticulturists George Ellwanger and Patrick Barry gained international attention for their nursery business, and Rochester gradually became known instead as “the Flower City” — a nickname that endures, celebrated each May with the Rochester Lilac Festival, the largest free lilac festival in North America.

Rochester also earned an enduring place in the history of American reform movements. Abolitionist Frederick Douglass spent 25 of his most productive years in Rochester. Douglass, an escaped slave, published the abolitionist newspaper The North Star and assisted Harriet Tubman in helping enslaved people escape via the Underground Railroad. Susan B. Anthony made Rochester her home for four decades, using her house on Madison Street as the headquarters of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. In 1872, Anthony was arrested in her front parlor for voting in that year’s presidential election. Both Douglass and Anthony are buried at Rochester’s Mount Hope Cemetery.

The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries brought a new wave of industrial transformation. German immigrants John Jacob Bausch and Henry Lomb launched Bausch & Lomb in 1861, and inventor and entrepreneur George Eastman founded Eastman Kodak in 1892. Xerox was founded in Rochester in 1906 as the Haloid Company. These three firms — Kodak, Xerox, and Bausch & Lomb — dominated the regional economy for much of the twentieth century and gave rise to Rochester’s third major nickname, “the World’s Image Center,” reflecting its preeminence in photography, optics, and imaging technology.

During World War II, Rochester factories produced a variety of goods for the war effort, including fuel tanker ships, optical equipment, and radio proximity fuses, amounting to $1,200,000,000 in military orders. The postwar decades brought both prosperity and the first signs of the deindustrialization that would reshape the city. Racial inequality fueled mounting tension, and discontent exploded in the three-day 1964 Rochester race riot, which resulted in five deaths, 350 injuries, nearly a thousand arrests, and 204 stores looted or damaged. In its aftermath, community organizations emerged to push for greater economic inclusion, and Eastman Kodak was pressured to open up employment opportunities for Black residents.

The decline of the Big Three — Kodak in particular — proved devastating. In 1997, Kodak announced it would be laying off 10,000 employees globally, the largest job cut announcement in U.S. history at the time. Kodak filed for bankruptcy in 2012. The population, which had peaked at 332,488 in 1950, fell steadily for decades. However, the 2020 Census recorded a modest recovery: for the first time since the 1950 Census, an increase in the city’s population was reported.

Geography

Rochester covers approximately 35.8 square miles in Monroe County. The Genesee River bisects the city from south to north before emptying into Lake Ontario. Downtown sits near the river’s course, where High Falls — a 96-foot waterfall — once powered the city’s flour mills and factories and today serves as a scenic landmark. The city is bordered by a ring of suburban towns including Greece, Gates, Chili, Brighton, Pittsford, Penfield, Webster, and Irondequoit, all within Monroe County. Lake Ontario lies roughly 10 miles to the north.

Rochester normally receives heavy snow in winter, primarily lake-effect snow resulting from its location on the southern shores of Lake Ontario, ranking among the snowiest large cities on earth. The 30-year annual average snowfall is just above 100 inches. Summers are comparatively mild and comfortable, and autumn brings vivid foliage across the region.

Demographics

As of the 2020 Census, 38.0% of Rochester residents were non-Hispanic Black, 33.0% were non-Hispanic White, 19.8% were Hispanic or Latino, 3.9% were Asian, and 5.1% were mixed or other race. The city’s Hispanic population is largely of Puerto Rican descent, reflecting a major migration wave that began after World War II. Rochester is home to significant refugee and immigrant communities as well, drawn by resettlement programs and the presence of social services organizations. The median age is 33.7 years, with a median household income of $35,590 and a poverty rate of 31.3%. The child poverty rate is 47.7%.

Government

Rochester operates under a strong mayor–city council form of government. Malik D. Evans is the 71st and current Mayor of Rochester, New York, a member of the Democratic Party. Evans, a Democratic incumbent, secured a second term in November 2025, defeating Conservative Party candidate Louis Sabo with 87.2% of the vote. He was inaugurated for his second term on January 1, 2026. Evans previously served on both the Rochester City Council and the Rochester City School Board, where he served as president for five years. Prior to his election as mayor in 2021, he succeeded Lovely Warren.

The Rochester City Council consists of nine members — four representing districts and five elected at-large. The city is also under the jurisdiction of the Monroe County Executive, currently Democrat Adam Bello, along with the rest of Monroe County. Rochester City Court consists of ten full-time judges, each elected to a 10-year term.

Economy

Rochester is the birthplace and/or home of many notable companies including Eastman Kodak, Xerox, Bausch & Lomb, Wegmans, Constellation Brands, Gannett, Paychex, Western Union, and Ray-Ban. In part due to their influence, the region became a global center for science, technology, and research and development.

Today the economy has diversified well beyond its manufacturing roots. The University of Rochester and its Medical Center is the largest employer in the city and region, with almost 20,000 employees. Other major employers include Rochester Regional Health, Wegmans Food Markets (headquartered in the Rochester suburb of Gates), Paychex (a Fortune 1000 payroll and HR services company), and Constellation Brands, a Fortune 500 beverage company. The Rochester metropolitan area has the third-largest regional economy in New York State, after New York City and Buffalo–Niagara Falls.

Optics and photonics remain a distinctive pillar of the regional economy. Rochester’s modern technological focus is on imaging and optical science. A research hub for photonics has operated in the city since 2015 following federal and state investment. The University of Rochester’s Institute of Optics and RIT’s imaging programs keep the city at the forefront of these fields, and a growing technology startup ecosystem has emerged around both universities.

Education

Rochester City School District serves the public school students of the city. The district has faced persistent challenges related to poverty and achievement gaps, reflecting the socioeconomic pressures on the city’s population.

Higher education is a particular strength. The University of Rochester is a world-renowned research institution with a strong focus on healthcare, engineering, and the arts. Its Eastman School of Music, founded with a gift from George Eastman in 1921, is consistently ranked among the finest music conservatories in the world. Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) was founded in 1829 and is the tenth-largest private university in the country in terms of full-time students. It is internationally known for its science, computer, engineering, and art programs, as well as for the National Technical Institute for the Deaf. Monroe Community College is the largest community college in Upstate New York. Other institutions include Nazareth University, Roberts Wesleyan University, St. John Fisher University, and the Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School.

Culture and Landmarks

Rochester’s cultural life reflects both its industrial legacy and its reform heritage. The George Eastman Museum, housed in Eastman’s former mansion on East Avenue, is the world’s oldest photography museum and one of the largest film archives. The Strong National Museum of Play in downtown Rochester holds the National Toy Hall of Fame and the World Video Game Hall of Fame, and draws families from across the region. The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, one of the oldest orchestras in the country, performs at Eastman Theatre on Main Street.

The Susan B. Anthony Museum & House at 17 Madison Street preserves the home where Anthony lived for 40 years and where she was arrested for voting in 1872. The front parlor, where the arrest occurred, is among the most visited rooms in the house. In Anthony Square nearby stands the “Let’s Have Tea” sculpture, depicting Anthony and Frederick Douglass in conversation. Mount Hope Cemetery, founded in 1838, is one of the oldest Victorian cemeteries in the United States. Spanning 196 acres, it is the final resting place of Susan B. Anthony, Frederick Douglass, and Nathaniel Rochester. On Election Day, it has become a tradition for voters to leave “I Voted” stickers on Anthony’s grave.

Highland Park and four other Rochester parks were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, the landscape architect behind New York City’s Central Park. Rochester is one of only four cities in the nation to boast a park system of his design. The park is home to over 500 varieties of lilacs and serves as the centerpiece of the annual Lilac Festival each May. High Falls, the 96-foot Genesee River waterfall in downtown Rochester, anchors the Brown’s Race historic district, adjacent to the Genesee Brew House.

Rochester is the home of the Rochester Red Wings, the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, who play at Innovative Field downtown. The city also supports the Rochester Americans (“Amerks”), an American Hockey League franchise and affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres, who play at Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial. The University of Rochester and RIT field competitive NCAA programs.

Notable People

Rochester and the surrounding region have produced or sheltered a remarkable number of historically significant figures. Frederick Douglass — escaped slave, abolitionist, journalist, and statesman — published his newspaper The North Star from Rochester and lived in the city for 25 years. Susan B. Anthony — women’s suffrage leader and abolitionist — made Rochester her home for four decades and was arrested there for voting. George Eastman — inventor and philanthropist, founder of Eastman Kodak — was raised in Rochester and transformed global photography while donating over $100 million to educational and cultural institutions during his lifetime.

In business, the city produced Tom Golisano, founder of Paychex and longtime owner of the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres; Joseph C. Wilson, founder of the Xerox Corporation; and Frank Gannett, founder of the Gannett newspaper chain. In music, the Eastman School’s legacy is reflected in notable alumni and figures including jazz musician Cab Calloway (born in Rochester), soprano Renée Fleming (raised nearby), and Lou Gramm, lead singer of the rock band Foreigner. Athletes with Rochester connections include Carmelo Anthony and Jim Brown, both of whom starred at Syracuse University nearby.

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