Rochester, located in Monroe County, is a city in New York State south of Lake Ontario in the United States. The Rochester metropolitan area is the second largest economy in New York State, trailing only New York City. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City. It is the county seat for Monroe County.

Rochester is at the center of a larger Metropolitan Area which encompasses and extends past Monroe County and includes Genesee County, Livingston County, Ontario County, Orleans County and Wayne County. This area, which is part of the Western New York region, had a population of 1,037,831 people as of the 2000 Census. As of July 1, 2005, this population rose slightly to 1,039,028, making Rochester the third largest city in New York State with a little over 208,000 residents.

Rochester was ranked #6 among 379 U.S. Metro areas in the 25th edition of the Places Rated Almanac for Most Livable Cities. In 2007, Rochester was ranked the #1 city in the country by Expansion Management Magazine for best quality of life. Additionally, Expansion Management rated the region's public schools as 6th best nationwide among metros with 1 million people or more.

The current Mayor of Rochester is Robert Duffy, who was the city's Police Chief before being elected mayor.