General Overview

Wayne County is showing mixed progress. Wayne has seen a slight growth in population, decreasing mortality rates, and a significant decrease in the rate of persons in need of supervision. However, the county's median income and median home value have not kept pace with inflation, showing declines since 2000. Wayne also has lower levels of educational attainment compared to the region, while the number of children living in poverty has increased. Promising progress has been made in the county to reduce crime rates, yet violent crime rates increased and juvenile delinquency and domestic violence rates remain much higher than rates for the region.


Demographic Overview

Wayne County experienced modest population growth. With just over 89,000 residents in 1990, Wayne County grew by over 2% to 91,000 residents in 2007. This growth in population is on par with the region, but much less than the increases of its neighbor Ontario (9%) and the growth in New York state (7%).
 
Wayne County's population is aging. The number of adults 40 to 59 years old increased by 42% from 1990 to 2007, making it the largest segment of the population and consistent with regional, state and national trends. Wayne County had the highest percent change in the region in the number of senior residents 85 and older. Although this group represents only 2% of the total county population, the dramatic increase highlights the growing need for sufficient elder care and support services.
 

Similar to other counties in the upstate region, Wayne is experiencing substantial declines in its number of youths and younger adults. Since 1990, the number of residents between 20 and 39 years old fell 23% in Wayne County, one of the highest declines in the region, more than the state decrease of 11% and counter to a national increase of 1%. There were 6,600 fewer persons 20-39 in the county in 2007 than there were in 1990. The number of children and young adults under 20 years old also declined by 12% since 1990, counter to increases in the nation (16%) and state (4%). Wayne County experienced small growth in minority populations, other than black residents, although it remains about 95% white. From 2000 to 2007 the greatest increases occurred in the Hispanic population, which grew

Photo provided by Peter "Skippy" Bushnell

25% to 2,800 residents and the Asian population, which grew 21% to 539 residents. Wayne County's black population declined by 7% during this time, but it remains the largest minority group with 2,900 residents, just slightly more than the Hispanic population.

Similar to other counties in the upstate region, Wayne is experiencing substantial declines in its number of youths and younger adults. Since 1990, the number of residents between 20 and 39 years old fell 23% in Wayne County, one of the highest declines in the region, more than the state decrease of 11% and counter to a national increase of 1%. There were 6,600 fewer persons 20-39 in the county in 2007 than there were in 1990. The number of children and young adults under 20 years old also declined by 12% since 1990, counter to increases in the nation (16%) and state (4%).

Wayne County experienced small growth in minority populations, other than black residents, although it remains about 95% white. From 2000 to 2007 the greatest increases occurred in the Hispanic population, which grew 25% to 2,800 residents and the Asian population, which grew 21% to 539 residents. Wayne County's black population declined by 7% during this time, but it remains the largest minority group with 2,900 residents, just slightly more than the Hispanic population.

Wayne County has seen a decline in the share of households of married couples with children and an increase in unmarried households with children. In 2006, about 21% of households in the county were composed of married couples with children living at home, down from 31% in 1990. In the same time period, unmarried households with children grew as a share of the total, from 8% to 10%. These changes in household types are similar to the trends for the region, state and nation.


Arts, Culture and Leisure

While most counties in the region are seeing an increase in tourism, Wayne experienced a decrease since 2005. Over 38.6 million tourism dollars were spent in the county in 2007, a 4% decrease in spending from 2005. As a result, Wayne County has the lowest per resident spending on tourism in the region, only $423 per resident, compared to the regional figure of $1,200.

Already receiving the lowest amount of public arts funding in the region, Wayne County experienced the greatest decrease in per capita funding since 2001. Wayne County had an 81% decline in grants per capita from the New York State Council on the Arts from 2001 to 2007. Wayne County's public funding for the arts has been substantially lower than all of the other counties in the region. In 2007, when most counties received well over $1 per capita, Wayne received 16 cents per capita.


Children and Youth

In 2006, 19% of children in Wayne County were living in poverty, the highest rate in our region's three most populous counties (Monroe, Ontario and Wayne). Wayne had the most dramatic increase in child poverty rates in the region, increasing from 11% of children in 2000.

Teen pregnancy has generally declined, and remains lower than the state rate. In 2006, the teen pregnancy rate was 24 per 1,000 females in Wayne County, second highest of the counties surrounding Monroe, but well below the state rate of 36. All counties in the region have had consistently lower rates than the state rate throughout this decade. Wayne's rate has fluctuated over the years, but overall declined 36% from 1996 to 2006.

Both Wayne and Genesee Counties had the lowest rates of early prenatal care in the region. The rates for Wayne and Genesee were on par with the state (74%), but below the regional figure of 77%. In addition, outside of Monroe County, both Wayne and Genesee had the highest rates of babies with low birth weight.

While the rate of Persons In Need of Supervision increased in the region from 2000 to 2007, Wayne County had the greatest decline (76%). The rate of PINS intakes declined from 24 cases per 1,000 youth in 2000 to just 6 in 2007.


Economy

Wayne County is part of the larger transition from manufacturing to knowledge-based industry. Educational Services jobs increased 37% since 2001, the second-highest growth for this sector in the region after Livingston County. Similar to the rest of the region, the greatest job losses occurred in the sectors of Information (-19%), Farming (-13%), and Manufacturing (-6%).

Adjusting for inflation, Wayne County's average salary increased 7% to roughly $34,600, making it the greatest percent increase in the region from 1999 to 2007. The United States posted similar growth of about 7% over the period, with an average salary of about $44,300 in 2007. Courtesy of a booming downstate economy, New York state's average salary jumped 12%, to nearly $58,600.
 

Education

Similar to students throughout our region, students in Wayne outperform those across the state on most key state tests and graduate at higher rates. For example, in 2007 96% of Wayne students passed the state Regents math exam that is required for high school graduation, compared to 89% of students statewide. About 77% of Wayne students graduated on-time, compared to 76% in the region and 70% statewide.
 
Wayne County has the lowest levels of educational attainment of our region's three most populous counties (Monroe, Wayne, and Ontario). In 2006, nearly 50% of Wayne County residents 25 and older had attended at least some college, compared to the regional rate of 60% and 54% of the state and nation. Wayne's rate is up from 38% of residents in 1990.

Spending per student by school districts in Wayne County has increased 21% since 2000, after adjusting for inflation. In 2006, Wayne school districts spent $14,900 per student, comparable to spending in surrounding counties, but less than the state rate of $16,700.


Financial Self-Sufficiency

Similar to the rest of the region, incomes in Wayne County have not kept pace with inflation and are expected to worsen in light of the 2008 recession. Wayne County's median household income in 2006 was about $49,000, lower than both the state ($52,900) and nation ($49,800). Adjusted for inflation, the county's median household income has actually declined 11% since 2000, while the state median decreased at a slower rate (2%).

Wayne County had more residents living in poverty in 2006 than in 2000. In 2006, 13% of Wayne residents had incomes below the poverty line, compared to 9% in 2000. Household incomes vary greatly among the county's racial and ethnic groups with black (29%) and Hispanic (22%) residents more likely to live in poverty.


Health

In 2005, 10% of Wayne County residents did not have health insurance, a slight increase from 9% in 2000. This rate is less than the region (11%), the state (13%) and the nation (15%).

Every county in the region has seen a steady decline in mortality rates since 2000. Wayne County residents had declines in mortality rates from heart disease (-4%), respiratory disease (-15%), and stroke (-22%), but experienced a slight increase in mortality rates from cancer (2%).

Wayne County residents have less access to physicians, with one of the lowest rates of doctors per 10,000 residents in the region. In 2006, Wayne had nine doctors per 10,000 residents, down from 10 in 2002. This is substantially less than either the regional rate (27 per 10,000 residents) or the state rate (33 per 10,000 residents). While access to doctors has been decreasing in Wayne, the rate of "preventable hospital admissions," which can be an effect of less access to quality health care, increased by 16% from 2000 to 2006.


Housing

Home values in Wayne County, as in the rest of our region, have not suffered the recent dramatic losses experienced throughout the nation. Both the state and nation had steep increases in home values from 2000 to 2006 before plummeting in 2008. While Wayne's home values have not followed the pattern of this erratic "housing bubble," they have not kept pace with inflation, declining by 9% from 1990 to 2006. In 2006, Wayne had a median home value of about $102,000 — lower than the national figure ($190,000) and much lower than the state ($312,000).

In 2006, 73% of all occupied housing units in Wayne County were owner-occupied. This homeownership rate is higher than across the 69% rate of region's three most populous counties (Monroe, Ontario and Wayne), the nation (67%) and the state (56%). Of the 40,000 housing units in the county, 90% were occupied and 10% were vacant in 2006.

Wayne County had one of the greatest declines in residential building permit rates in the region. Both Monroe and Wayne county residential permits issued declined by 42% since 2000, compared to an overall regional decline of 27% and a 33% increase in neighboring Ontario.


Public Safety

Since 2000, many of Wayne County's crime rates have declined, while others have shown sharp increases. Similar to reduced crime rates experienced statewide, Wayne has seen a decline in serious crimes (-16%), property crime (-19%), and other reported crimes (-29%). However, from 2000 to 2007, violent crimes increased by 35% and felony drug-related arrest rates increased 55%, slightly above the rate of the surrounding counties (51%). Wayne County had the second highest increase in rates of domestic violence, just after Wyoming, with 66 reports per 10,000 residents compared to the regional rate of 29.

Juvenile delinquency intakes in Wayne have declined from 2000 to 2007, yet remain higher than rates for the region and the state. Wayne's juvenile delinquency intakes rate has fluctuated over the years, but showed a slight decrease from 16 per 1,000 children in 2000 to 14 in 2007. Despite the decline, Wayne remains higher than the regional rate of 11 and the state rate of 10.


Note: Data research and analysis conducted by the Center for Governmental Research.

 Banner photo provided by Peter "Skippy" Bushnell