Welcome to our frequently asked questions section, which has been designed to provide the facts and figures behind Warren County’s workforce, economy, demographics, services, etc. Where possible, we have provided links to deeper information. However, we are much more than statistics. When you combine the lower costs of doing business here with the outstanding lifestyle benefits, you will soon see why Warren County is such a great place to stake your claim to a bright future.
If you encounter any problems or have suggestions for additional questions you would like us to answer, please send a comment to us.
Are Empire Zone and other benefits/incentives available?
What is the distance and travel time to major cities in the Northeastern
United States and Canada?
What are the major transportation facilities?
What is the total regional population?
What is the median age?
What is the total workforce size?
What percentage of the labor force is unemployed? Underemployed?
Has total employment experienced growth over time?
What two and four-year colleges/universities are located within 50 miles?
What percentage of the Glens Falls MSA population has a four-year
college degree (or higher)? A high school diploma?
What is the quality level of local primary/secondary schools?
What is the Cost of Living Index (ACCRA)?
What is the median home price?
What is the per capita income?
What industry sectors are the most prevalent in the market?
What are the median hourly wage rates by occupation?
Who are the major employers?
What industry clusters are located in the immediate market area?
What health care facilities are in the area?
What is the crime rate?
What recreational and cultural assets are in the area?
What is the average daily commuting time and out-migration?
What is the local tax rate structure?
Who are the major utility and telecommunications providers?
What technology and/or R & D facilities are located within 50 miles?
Are Empire Zone and other benefits/incentives available?
Yes. Warren County’s Empire Zone Program was established in 2001, and is administered by the EDC. Since its inception, qualified EZ enterprises have created nearly 500 local jobs and been responsible for close to $75M in capital investments. Click here for more information.
What is the distance and travel time to major cities in the Northeastern United States and Canada?
Warren County is less than four hour’s drive time from New York City, Boston, and Montreal. There is easy access by highway, air, and rail from the Warren County/Glens Falls MSA to major northeastern markets. Click here for more.
What are the major transportation facilities?
Road
I-87 (Northway) bisects Warren County and provides truck and auto access to Montreal (north) and the New York City metro area (south). The New York State Thruway I-90 runs east-west from Albany to Buffalo and the Massachusetts border.
Air
Floyd Bennett Memorial Airport, located in Queensbury, offers private air and corporate jet facilities, including private hangars and on-site FBO. Albany International Airport is located approximately 45 miles south. Its recently upgraded facilities provide a full schedule of passenger and freight transportation to U.S. and Canadian destinations, with worldwide connections. Click here for a list of available carriers and flight services.
Rail
Main line service is available from D&H Railroad, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railroad. Canadian Pacific and CSX have major classification yards in close proximity to the Port of Albany, assuring adequate car supply and timely service. Canadian Pacific also has dockside rail access with no intermediate transshipment at the Ports of Montreal and New York.
Amtrak serves passenger travel with stations in Albany-Rensselaer and Saratoga Springs.
Sea
Warren County is 42 miles from the Port of Albany, 175 miles from the Port of Montreal (the second busiest port in North America), and 200 miles from the Port of New York (the busiest port in North America).
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What is the total regional population?
The most recent statistics put the Glens Falls MSA, which includes all of Warren and adjacent Washington County, at 128,572 (U.S. Census 2005 estimate). The 2000 U.S. Census recorded 124,345. This was one of the only Upstate New York MSAs to report a population increase from 2000 to 2005.
Warren County’s total population estimate is 65,548 (U.S. Census 2005 estimate). In 2000, the Census totaled 63,303 for Warren County. Click here for additional detail and historical data.
What is the median age?
The median age in the Glens Falls MSA is 40.0 years, according to U.S. Census 2005 estimate.
What is the total workforce size?
On an average yearly basis, the total civilian workforce has grown in the Glens Falls MSA over the past decade and is now 67,708 (2005 average annual), up from 61,805 in 1996 (average annual).
What percentage of the labor force is unemployed? Underemployed?
Unemployment in the Glens Falls MSA has decreased gradually over the past decade. In 1996, the average annual unemployment rate was 6.3%. In 2005, the unemployment rate was 4.5% (average annual).
In a Pathfinders Report issued December 2005, it was reported that out of a total labor shed of 155,000, approximately 11,000 were “underemployed.” Note: Labor shed area covers an area slightly larger than the Glens Falls MSA (Warren and Washington Counties). It also covers portions of northern Saratoga County, Berkshire, Bennington and Rutland Counties. Click here to access excerpts of the Pathfinders Report.
Has total employment experienced growth over time?
The Glens Falls MSA has experienced steady gains over the past decade. The region has evolved from a predominantly traditional manufacturing base, featuring paper, cement, textiles and quarrying to business and financial services, health care, education, and medical device manufacturing. Total employment in the Glens Falls MSA in 2005 was 64,657 (average annual) up from 57,898 (average annual) in 1996. In any given year, total employment experiences a surge during summer months due to a high concentration of tourist related seasonal jobs. Click here to see details.
What two and four-year colleges/universities are located within 50 miles?
There are more than 20 higher educational institutions within a 50-mile radius of the Glens Falls/Warren County area with total enrollment exceeding 67,000 students. Nationally known four-year institutions include State University at Albany (SUNY), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), Union College, Skidmore, and Siena. SUNY Albany is home to the world-renowned College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering. Click here to see a more complete list.
What percentage of the Glens Falls MSA population has a four-year college degree (or higher)? A high school diploma?
22.8% of the population has a four-year degree or higher; 87.6% has a high school degree or higher.
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What is the quality level of local primary/secondary schools?
Out of 362 MSAs nationally, the Glens Falls MSA was ranked No. 19 by Expansion Management magazine in their 2006 Top Metros for Public Schools list. Expansion Management has developed an MSA comparative education quotient for public schools measuring actual performance data. To see the list and related information, click here.
What is the Cost of Living Index (ACCRA)?
The most recently published ACCRA index for the Glens Falls MSA is 108.5, which compares very favorably to Boston’s 136.4, Hartford’s 119.0, and Manhattan’s 204.7.
What is the median home price?
A recently published National Association of Realtors (NAR) report lists the Glens Falls MSA median single-family home price at $164,200, which is up 2.6% from one year ago. The nearby Albany-Schenectady-Troy MSA is listed at $197,600 in the same report. To see the full NAR report, click here.
What is the per capita income?
The Glens Falls MSA per capita income was $27,651 for 2005, which ranks 265 among all MSAs. Albany-Schenectady-Troy is $34,996 (ranked 73) in the same report.
What industry sectors are the most prevalent in the market?
The Warren County/Glens Falls area has been transitioning from a traditional manufacturing based economy established in the last century into a business, health care, education, financial services, and precision manufacturing economy led by a growing medical device subsector. Click here for more details.
What are the median hourly wage rates by occupation?
In the Glens Falls MSA, the median average hourly wage for all occupations is $12.84 per hour. To see a more detailed breakdown by occupation or to compare with other NYS regional MSAs, click here.
Who are the major employers?
With approximately 2,900 employees, the largest employer in the region is Glens Falls Hospital, which reflects the region’s rapidly growing reputation as the premier medical center for a multi-county region. Other major employers include:
Boston Scientific (medical device) – 900
C.R. Bard (medical device) – 900
The Sagamore Resort (tourism) – 850
Finch Pruyn (paper) – 850
Click here to see an expanded list.
What industry clusters are located in the immediate market area?
The Glens Falls MSA has one of the highest Location Quotients (LQ) for medical device manufacturing among MSAs nationally. Approximately 3,300 are employed in the medical device field, yielding an LQ of 21.3, which is extremely high when compared to Upstate New York’s 1.9 LQ for medical devices.
Click here to see the full Fall 2002 Federal Reserve Report.
What health care facilities are in the area?
The recently expanded Glens Falls Hospital is the largest full-service medical center in the region. The hospital features 410 beds, ambulatory surgery, prenatal, cardiac, and cancer care centers, as well as more than 20 community health centers located throughout the region.
Click here for a list of other hospitals within a 50-mile radius.
Click here for a NYS Dept of Health report card for Glens Falls Hospital.
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What is the crime rate?
The City of Glens Falls has an overall crime index of 387 (based on 2005 crime data), which is about half the national average. The Glens Falls MSA was ranked third in Morgan Quinto’s list of America’s Safest Metros in 2006.
Click here for the full report and here for local statistics.
What recreational and cultural assets are in the area?
Eighty percent of Warren County lies within the Adirondack Park’s “blue line” and features access to an abundance of all-season, outdoor recreational activities. The City of Glens Falls, located at the southern end of the county, is home to a number of museums, such as the world-renowned Hyde Collection and the World Awareness Children’s Museum. There’s a bustling city center that features a variety of dining and entertainment options, as well as two popular microbreweries. The city has a number of parks, an outstanding library, a professional symphony, and the Charles R. Wood Theater, which hosts the Adirondack Theatre Festival and other performances. Click here for more information on Warren County’s recreational and cultural opportunities.
What is the average daily commuting time and out-migration?
The Glens Falls MSA has an average daily commuting time of 21.4 minutes. According to the 2000 U.S. Census data, approximately 28% of the commuting workforce, residing within Warren County, migrates to areas outside the county daily. Most of this commuter traffic is traveling to Saratoga, Albany, and Washington Counties.
What is the local tax rate structure?
Real property taxes vary within Warren County, depending on a number of factors such as special water/sewer district, school district and other special assessment districts. On balance, municipal tax rates are low for a number of towns in the County. The County’s largest town, Queensbury, has no town tax at the present time due to robust retail and commercial tax revenue.
Click here for more local tax information.
Who are the major utility and telecommunications providers?
National Grid – Electric and gas
Verizon – Telecom/DSL
Time Warner Cable – Commercial broadband/TV
Time Warner Telecom – Commercial broadband telecom
What technology and/or R & D facilities are located within 50 miles?
The Luther Forest Technology Park in Malta, NY, is the future home of Advanced Micro Device’s (AMD) newest chip manufacturing facility. Construction begins in 2008/2009 on the site, which is located approximately 25 miles south of Exit 18 (Queensbury/Glens Falls). AMD, the second leading manufacturer of computer chips worldwide, conducts research at the State University of Albany’s Nanotech research facility, and is also a partner in Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s $100 million supercomputer project.
Other internationally renowned R&D facilities in the Capital Region include:
Albany NanoTech
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)
UAlbany East Campus/Wadsworth Center
General Electric Global Research
For a complete list of regional technology assets, click here.
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