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 of 115,000. The area has seen little employment growth since the Great Recession. Watertown is home to the Fort Drum military reservation, with some local economic activity centered around serving the facility. As in many other upstate New York metropolitan areas, the manufacturing sector has shed a substantial number of jobs in recent decades. Picking up some of the slack have been the health-and-education and professional-and-business-services sectors, which have added jobs in recent years.
Economic and Demographic Trends
| Watertown | North Country* | Syracuse* | New York State | USA | |
| Population1 | 114,000 | 311,000 | 655,000 | 19,849,000 | 325,719,000 |
| Pop growth, 10-year change1 | -0.8% | -2.1% | -0.2% | 3.7% | 8.1% |
| GDP, billions2 | $6 | $10 | $33 | $1,500 | $18,510 |
| Job growth, 5-year change1 | 0.5% | 2.2% | 2.0% | 8.3% | 9.3% |
| Median household income2 | $46,000 | $52,000 | $55,000 | $62,000 | $57,000 |
| Median home price2 | $140,000 | $110,000 | $130,000 | $300,000 | $200,000 |
| Pop share age 25+ with BA+2 | 20.6% | 21.5% | 31.2% | 35.7% | 31.3% |
