Watertown Metro Area

Watertown Metro Area
Located in the northern part of New York State near the St. Lawrence River, Watertown is one of New York's smallest metropolitan areas, with a population about 115,000. The area has seen little population or employment growth in recent decades. Watertown is home to the Fort Drum military reservation, with significant local economic activity centered around serving the facility.
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Watertown Metro Area Economic Indicators
Watertown Metro Area
Economic and Demographic Trends
Population 2023Pop growth 2023, 10-year change (%)GDP 2022,
billions
($)		Job growth 2023, 5-year change
(%)		Median household income 2022
($)		Median home price 2022
($)		Pop share age 25+ with BA+ 2022
(%)
Watertown114,787-4.08-3.157,100178,00025.3
North Country299,962-3.917-3.258,800160,00026.6
Syracuse652,956-1.049-1.865,000172,00033.2
New York State19,571,216-0.72,0480.376,000400,00040.0
United States334,914,8955.525,7444.871,700321,00035.7
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis; IPUMS USA-University of Minnesota; and New York Fed calculations. Data retrieved through data.census.gov, Moody's Economy.com, or directly from source.
*Neighboring Metros

The New York Fed publishes indicators, trends, research and analysis on our Second District. Explore the content below to learn more.

collage of portrait images of people of different demographics
Regional Economic Heterogeneity Indicators
July 8, 2025
The Economic Heterogeneity Indicators are broad-based economic indicators that measure macroeconomic outcomes experienced by different demographic, economic, and geographic groups across the New York-New Jersey metro area, as well as all other counties in New York state.
Full Regional Report | Regional Data
image collage of four scenes with people affected by fire, flooding, wind damage
New Dataset Maps Losses from Natural Disasters to the County Level
BY Matteo Crosignani and Martin Hiti | July 1, 2025
The Losses from Natural Disasters Indicator represents the first publicly available comprehensive dataset on county-level damages, injuries, and fatalities from natural disasters in the United States. Since the dataset can be easily matched with county-level data on economic activity and employment, it enables precise analysis of the impact of extreme weather events on local economies and banking networks.
Early Benchmarked Employment Data
Early Benchmarked Employment Data
June 25, 2025
Our economists provide early benchmarks of initial monthly employment releases throughout the year and make the benchmarked data about the New York Fed region available to the public on a monthly basis.





Regional Employment Trends
Regional Employment Trends
June 25, 2025
These interactive charts illustrate payroll employment trends for more than 20 geographies in the Second District, from the state level down to metropolitan areas.
graph simulating business activity
Business Leaders Survey: Service Sector Activity Declines Significantly
June 17, 2025
Business activity declined in the New York-Northern New Jersey region’s service sector for a fourth consecutive month in June. The survey’s headline business activity index came in at -13.2, and firms remained pessimistic about the outlook. Learn more in our monthly regional service sector survey on current and future business trends.
graph image of empire state indicator
Empire State Manufacturing Survey: Business Activity Continues to Decline
June 16, 2025
Business activity continued to decline in New York State’s manufacturing sector in June, with the headline general business conditions index falling 7 points to -16.0. Learn more in our monthly survey of New York manufacturers as they assess current conditions and the future outlook.


Beige Book
Economic Activity in the Second District Continued to Decline Modestly
June 4, 2025
Economic activity in the Second District continued to decline modestly amid heightened uncertainty. Employment held steady, though demand for workers softened and wage growth slowed to a modest pace. Selling price increases remained moderate, but input prices grew strongly with tariff-induced cost increases. Capital spending plans declined, and the outlook was quite pessimistic.
a worker standing in front of a large metal power turbine in a factory. Or a worker stands in front of a massive metal power turbine in factory OR the back of a worker standing in front of large metal power turbine.
Are Businesses Absorbing the Tariffs or Passing Them on to Their Customers?
BY Jaison R. Abel, Richard Deitz, Sebastian Heise, Ben Hyman, and Nick Montalbano | June 4, 2025
Recent import tariffs have left businesses with difficult and complex decisions about whether to absorb the tariffs, raise their prices to recover the higher costs, or some combination of both. The authors discuss the New York Fed’s May survey of businesses in the New York–Northern New Jersey region, which indicates most businesses passed on at least some of the higher tariffs to their customers.
Quarterly Household Debt & Credit
Quarterly Household Debt & Credit Report (with state information)
May 13, 2025
The report provides unique data and insight into the credit conditions of U.S. consumers and provides a quarterly snapshot of household trends in borrowing and indebtedness, including data about mortgages, student loans, credit cards, auto loans and delinquencies.





Mapping Home Price Changes
Mapping Home Price Changes
April 2025
Explore year-over-year changes in home prices both regionally and nationally, using this dynamic map — updated monthly with new home price index data on 1,200 U.S. counties since 2003.
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Jaison Abel's Briefing on Economic Conditions in the Region
March 25, 2025
In a presentation for the 2025 New York Fed Regional and Community Banking Conference, Jaison Abel, Head of Microeconomics, discussed economic conditions in the region, including employment, inflation, housing, and business conditions.
report cover
Credit Insecurity in the United States: 2018-2023
BY Jake Scott, Ambika Nair, and Claire Kramer Mills | March 6, 2025
The report introduces a geographic measure of credit access across the United States called the Credit Insecurity Index. The index combines data about the share of adults without a credit score or file and the share who have limited access to affordable credit. The report uses the index to measure access to affordable credit at the national, state, city, town, and county level.
illustration of new york city skyline in blue against gold background
Firms’ Inflation Expectations Have Picked Up
By Jaison R. Abel, Richard Deitz, and Ben Hyman | March 5, 2025
After a period of high inflation following the pandemic recession, inflationary pressures have been moderating the past few years, dropping from a peak of 9.1 percent in 2022 to 3 percent at the beginning of 2025. However, firms expect both cost and price increases to move higher in 2025, with year-ahead inflation expectations rising from 3 percent last year at this time to 3.5 to 4 percent, though longer-term inflation expectations remain anchored at around 3 percent.
Technician using a tablet in a car factory
AI and the Labor Market: Will Firms Hire, Fire, or Retrain?
BY Jaison R. Abel, Richard Deitz, Natalia Emanuel, and Benjamin Hyman | September 4, 2024
Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to dramatically change the labor market and possibly the nature of work itself. The results of the authors’ August regional business surveys find most firms that expected to use AI in the next six months plan to retrain their workforces, with far fewer reporting adjustments to planned headcounts.
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Supply Chain Disruptions Have Eased, But Remain a Concern
BY Jaison R. Abel and Richard Deitz | May 20, 2024
Supply chain disruptions became a major headache for businesses in the aftermath of the pandemic and were a key contributor to the surge in inflation. The authors present new measures in supply availability from the New York Fed’s Business Leaders Survey, Empire State Manufacturing Survey, and Global Supply Chain Pressure Index. They find that supply availability had generally been improving since early 2023, but improvement has stalled over the past couple of months.
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Supplemental Survey Report: Regional Supply Chain Insights
May 20, 2024
In response to special questions focused on supply chain disruptions, about a third of service firms and 48 percent of manufacturing firms reported at least some difficulty obtaining supplies they needed this month. Learn more in our supplemental survey report.
Slow Road to Recovery: U.S.V.I. Sees Signs of Resilience
Many Places Still Have Not Recovered from the Pandemic Recession
May 7, 2024
The onset of the pandemic resulted in one of the sharpest and deepest economic downturns in U.S. history. The authors examine the uneven geographic recovery from the pandemic recession, noting that much of the New York-Northern New Jersey region is still way behind.
Cover of presentation
Andy Haughwout’s Briefing on U.S. and Regional Economic Conditions
April 18, 2024
In a presentation at the 2024 New York Fed Regional and Community Banking Conference, Andy discussed economic conditions, including employment, inflation, business activity, housing, and commercial real estate.


small business workers creating fabric products in shop
Businesses See Inflationary Pressures Moderating
February 21, 2024
Shortly after the recovery from the pandemic recession began, the U.S. economy entered a period of high inflation as surging demand, severe supply disruptions, and worker shortages combined to create large imbalances and inflationary pressures in the economy. Have these pressures moderated for local businesses in the New York–Northern New Jersey region? The New York Fed’s February business surveys asked firms about increases in their costs and prices.
Credit Access Report Cover with graphs
The State of Low-Income America: Credit Access & Housing
BY Claire Kramer-Mills, Ambika Nair, Belicia Rodriguez, and Joelle Scally | JANUARY 18, 2024
As part of our mission to make the U.S. economy stronger and the financial system more stable for all segments of society, the New York Fed issues periodic reports on credit access for low-income Americans. The 2024 report examines low-income households’ access to credit, ability to repay loans, and use of mortgage refinancing through Q3 of 2023.
Small Business Recovery after Natural Disasters
Banks versus Hurricanes
November 20, 2023
Puerto Rico’s location in the Caribbean leaves it highly exposed to all manner of severe weather. Hurricane Maria, which struck the island on September 17, 2017, was a worst case in some respects as it struck just two weeks after Hurricane Irma flooded the island. Even so, the island’s economy and banks recovered surprisingly quickly. This post discusses the various protections—including homeowners’ insurance, federal aid, and mortgage guarantees—that helped buttress the island’s economy and banks.
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