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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Welcome to Rensselaer ...

The city of Rensselaer is located in Rensselaer County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Rensselaer, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1906.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Rensselaer has a population of 9,181 people<2> (see below for details).

Rensselaer is near sea level<3>.

Time Zone: Rensselaer lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Codes for Rensselaer: 518 & 838<4>

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Rensselaer had an population of 9,181 people. This is a decrease of 2.25% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 18.3% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Rensselaer had a population of 9,392 people (or 5.89% of the total population of Rensselaer County). This makes Rensselaer the county's 6th most populous community.

The population of Rensselaer represents 0.05% of the population of New York (which has 19,378,102 people), making it the state's 260th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 9,392 people, the population of Rensselaer increased 21.02% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 7,761 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Rensselaer.

Communities Also Named Rensselaer ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 2 communities that are also named Rensselaer - they are located in Indiana and Missouri.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Rensselaer.

Websites for Rensselaer ...

Chamber of Commerce:   www.renscochamber.com/

Although we don't have any websites that are specific to Rensselaer, the following might be of interest:

Communities near Rensselaer ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Rensselaer.

  • Schenectady
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Troy
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Troy
    • Troy is located in Rensselaer County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 48,804 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Troy <5>
  • Cohoes
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Watervliet
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watervliet
    • Watervliet is located in Albany County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,807 people
    • Former names for Watervliet:
    • Gibbonsville
    • Port Schuyler
    • West Troy
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Watervliet <5>
  • Scotia
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotia
    • Scotia is located in Schenectady County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,618 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Scotia <5>
  • Colonie
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Mechanicville
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
  • Ravena
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Green Island
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Voorheesville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Rensselaer. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Rensselaer.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Rensselaer. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Rensselaer.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Rensselaer. Our list includes 7 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Rensselaer.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Rensselaer ...

Looking for more information about Rensselaer? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Rensselaer, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Rensselaer.

Adding Rensselaer to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Rensselaer in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Rensselaer was mentioned on a train schedule titled New York Central Railroad Time Table (July 1902).

We also found Rensselaer in the book titled .<6> X3X - From that list, the Rensselaer post office opened in 1906.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Rensselaer.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of New York's counties, including Rensselaer, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Rensselaer.
<3>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Rensselaer - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<4>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 518 code has been Overlayed with the 838 area code. New phone numbers in the Rensselaer area will be assigned with one of these codes: 518 or 838. As a result, placing a call in the Rensselaer area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<5>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<6>A copy of their list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/