In many ways the demographic composition of Dutchess County is very similar to the makeup of the Mid-Hudson Valley as a whole. For instance, as in the Mid-Hudson Valley overall, six in ten people living in Dutchess County are in households with an annual income of more than $50,000.
But, there are some areas in which residents of Dutchess County differ from the larger Mid-Hudson population. For example, the average household size in Dutchess County is larger than the average Mid-Hudson Valley household. It is 3.0 compared with the regional average of 2.8. Five years ago, the average household size for both Dutchess County and the greater Mid-Hudson Valley was 2.9. Among households with children, the average household size in Dutchess County is 4.2 the same as it is in the Mid-Hudson Valley as a whole.
The racial and ethnic composition of the county is similar to that of the Mid-Hudson region. About four in five Dutchess County residents identify themselves as white compared with 9% who consider themselves African American and 8% of residents who say they are Latino.
A majority of Dutchess County residents do not have a college degree. Following regional trends, more than six in ten county residents have not completed college.
Dutchess County households are just as likely to include children as the average household in the Mid-Hudson region. 44% of Dutchess County households include at least one child which is exactly the same proportion in the Mid-Hudson region. 12% of Dutchess County households have a family member who is under age five which is comparable to the regional average of 15%. As with Mid-Hudson Valley households overall, 38% of Dutchess County households include children age five to eighteen.
18% of Dutchess County children live in low income households where the yearly income is less than $30,000. This compares with 21% of children in the entire Mid-Hudson region. 13% of Dutchess County households with children are headed by a single parent, comparable to the 11% in Mid-Hudson region households with children.
The proportion of residents without health care coverage in Dutchess County has remained similar to the number reported in 2002. 22% of all county households have at least one member who has experienced a gap in coverage over the past year, and one in ten households include someone who is currently uninsured. These figures are comparable to the entire region.
Since 2002 there has not been any progress in decreasing the number of Dutchess County’s uninsured. 15% of all households with children have at least one child who has not had continuous coverage over the past year compared with 13% five years ago. 5% do not currently have insurance compared with 6% who were uninsured in 2002. The proportion of uninsured children in Dutchess County is consistent with the overall Mid-Hudson region.
