IDQ

Rochester, NY has an exceptionally talented workforce. We have the highest Intellectual Density Quotient of any region in the country. This is where smart people live and smart businesses grow.

Intellectual Density Quotient – or IDQ -- is a measurement derived through a comparison of a region's population to its rankings in a core list of recognized standards of success and achievement, providing an assessment of a region's capacity for innovation, creativity, and problem solving. A high IDQ is an indication of a region's potential for productivity and sustainable economic health, and it helps perpetuate a pervasive and contagious culture of success.

IDQ is based on these factors:

Percentage of population age 18 and over enrolled in college or grad school
Percentage of population age 25 and older that have graduated from high school or received equivalency certificate
Patents issued per 1,000 people
Number of workers trained to excel in our knowledge based economy
Number of companies ranked among the best places to work in the country

It's not the size of the region that matters, but what it can accomplish. We pump out more patents per resident, and we have more brains trained to excel in this knowledge-based economy than communities three times our size.

Each market's IDQ is the sum of these factors: Number of #1 "Best Companies to Work For" rankings (per 1 million population), Number of Top 10 "Best Companies to Work For" rankings (per 1 million population), percentage population 25+ that has graduated from high school (including equivalency), percentage population 18+ enrolled in college or grad school, percentage population classified as knowledge workforce, and patents issued per 1,000 residents.

We included mean annual wages for comparison purposes to illustrate the high caliber of our workforce without the high cost associated with a major metropolitan area.

We produce more patents per 1,000 residents (1.07) than regions such as Raleigh, NC and Boston, MA
A greater percentage of our population is classified as knowledge workforce (26.0%) than Minneapolis, MN and a greater percentage of our population older than 25 has a high school degree (34.9%) than Austin, TX or San Jose, CA
And Rochester, NY is the only community in the country to be home to the best small, medium and large company to work for in America.

Sources:

Best Companies: Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For in America, 2014, Great Places Institute, 2013
Population: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates, July 2013
Knowledge Workforce: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment Statistics, May 2013
Educational Attainment and School Enrollment: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2012
Wage estimates: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment Statistics, May 2013
Patents: U.S. Patent and Trade Office

We have IDQ data available for 50 major metro areas. You may select up to 10 cities at a time.

Open IDQ Comparison

Save Time and Money in Rochester, NY

Kiplinger named Rochester the 'Best City in the U.S. for Commuters.' This ranking was based on our community's low congestion cost (a measurement of wasted time and fuel calculated by the Texas Transportation Institute) along with average length of commute, local gas prices, yearly delays per commuter, and public transit use.

The average commute time in the Rochester, NY Region is only 21.1 minutes. Our short commutes save time, save money, and improve workforce productivity. Check out the comparison between Rochester and major metropolitan areas around the country and you'll see a real savings in Rochester, NY.

Our region offers the highly skilled workforce necessary to compete in a knowledge-based economy

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In U.S. News and World Report's 2019 evaluation of more than 17,000 public high schools, 11 schools in the Greater Rochester, N.Y. region are among the top 10 percent. more

According to U.S. News & World Report, Rochester is the 13th Best Place to Live in the U.S. for Quality of Life. Short commutes and high-quality education were key factors. (2018) more

Greater Rochester, NY is among the top 10 U.S. cities where Millennials are buying homes (Lending Tree, January 2019) more

Younger Americans voting with their feet are favoring moves to Rochester, NY, according to a 2019 analysis by the National Association of Realtors (Bloomberg, 2019). more

For the second straight year, the Finger Lakes in Upstate New York has been named the best wine region in the United States in a national poll conducted by USA Today and its travel site, 10Best.com. (August 2019) more

Rochester Institute of Technology is one of the top schools in the world to study game design and launch games. (The Princeton Review, 2017) more

Realtor.com ranked Rochester, NY the hottest real estate market. more

Rochester, NY is recognized as one of the 25 most innovative cities in America as measured by 24/7 Wall St. (2018) more

Greater Rochester, NY is the 15th most "digitalized economy" in the U.S. (Brookings Institution, 2017) more

Rochester ranks 2nd among large US metros for volunteer hours per resident. (source: Corporation for National & Community Service, 2018) more

Rochester, NY is the 17th most “arts vibrant” place in the country, according to the National Center for Arts Research annual Arts Vibrancy Index. (July 2018) more

Scientific Reports named Rochester 18th among "The World's Leading Science Cities." (May 2013) more

Yahoo Travel ranks Finger Lakes Region Among Top 10 "Lakeside Vacations that Have it All" more

Rochester, NY was named one of the Top 10 Best Golf Cities in America. (source: Golf.com) more

Rochester is ranked #1 in the U.S. for patents issued per 1000 workers (source: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, April 2015) more

Rochester, NY is the second least stressed out city according to CNN/Money. (July 2014) more

7% of the world's fresh water supply is right here in the Greater Rochester, NY Region. And water rates well below the national average. more

U.S. News gives Rochester high marks for comforts more

Rochester's health care costs are among the lowest in the country. Commercial insurance costs are 30% below the national average. more

Recent map from Popular Science article shows Rochester, NY is a low risk for natural disasters (August 2014) more

Greater Rochester ranks 13th among metropolitan regions for the number of patents issued per million residents. (Brookings Institute report "Patenting Prosperity: Invention and Economic Performance in the United States and its Metropolitan Areas" 2013) more

At $127,000, the median home sales price is 51% more affordable than the national average. Approximately 86% of area homes are affordable for our region's median income. NAHB Housing Opportunity Index (Q1 2019) more

USA Today ranked The Strong as the #3 “Best Museum for Families” in the country more

Rochester's health care costs are the 4th lowest in the nation (Institute of Medicine, 2015) more

Monroe Community College cited as a national model for best practices in workforce development. more

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