St. Lawrence County, NY

County Profile

107,226 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for St. Lawrence County, NY.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

51out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 21% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
Opportunity1,054th of 1,463 counties measured44
Schools1,136th of 1,377 counties measured24
Growth1,023rd of 1,453 counties measured39
Housing affordability828th of 1,462 counties measured72
Climate1,362nd of 1,463 counties measured53
Physical resilienceTop 30% of 1,463 counties measured73
Access1,324th of 1,463 counties measured50
Economic stability1,169th of 1,463 counties measured36
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable counties measured: unemployment is 5.2% and the Opportunity signal places St. Lawrence County in the bottom 28%.

In the public schools here, 54% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 11.1 students for every teacher.

204 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 7% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
107,226
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$62,850
Bottom 44% nationally
Density
40/sq mi
2,679.5 sq mi of land
Median age
39.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
St. Lawrence County
New York
Nearest major airport
PBG
80 mi · Plattsburgh Intl
Median home value
$121,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.2% — higher than in all but 17% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 1.0% over the past year, to 39,552 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$65,14165th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$59,87456th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$2,8702024 ACS 5-Year$62,850Bottom 44%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,2372024 ACS 5-Year$33,177Bottom 41%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$48,084Bottom 17%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year16.1%Bottom 30%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.7 min2024 ACS 5-Year22.3 minTop 27%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year25.3%Top 37%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year74.8%32nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202639,552Top 46%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+3.2%Top 17%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−1.0%Bottom 41%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202641,74355th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year70.1%Bottom 26%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year0.3%58th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.2%Bottom 27%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20265.2%Bottom 17%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year7.3%38th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/075.63.2
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 5.2% in July 2026. It has been rising for the last 2 months, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202463k54k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $62,850 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

54% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 49% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 11.1 students for every full-time teacher across 37 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
39
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
11.1
across 37 of them
Math proficiency
54.5%
Bottom 9% in New York
Reading proficiency
49.4%
Bottom 5% in New York
The 12 largest of 39 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Massena Senior High SchoolMASSENA CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT74313.892%98%
Ogdensburg Free AcademyOGDENSBURG CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT6469.651%43%
Lisbon Central SchoolLISBON CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT54011.553%49%
Lawrence Avenue Elementary SchoolPOTSDAM CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT52613.257%52%
Gouverneur Elementary SchoolGOUVERNEUR CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT51112.220%19%
Heuvelton Central SchoolHEUVELTON CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT51011.651%49%
Nightengale Elementary SchoolMASSENA CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT45415.147%50%
Jefferson Elementary SchoolMASSENA CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT45213.351%37%
Gouverneur High SchoolGOUVERNEUR CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT45011.898%87%
Gouverneur Middle SchoolGOUVERNEUR CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT44710.422%17%
Madison Elementary SchoolMASSENA CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT43213.952%48%
John F Kennedy SchoolOGDENSBURG CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT4319.644%37%

45.0% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against New York’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of New York is up 52% over five years, and up 6.7% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $2,844 a year in real estate taxes, about 2.33% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,071, some 31% above the $818 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,071 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $42,800 a year, about 68% of the median household income here of $62,850.

The typical renter household here spends 30% of its income on rent, at the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $818 a month.

A median home at $121,900 costs 1.5 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $79,263, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
30.3%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
1.5×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,071
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$818
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$121,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against St. Lawrence County’s median household income of $62,850, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of New York’s figure2026 Q2+6.7%94th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of New York’s figure2026 Q2+52.3%79th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of New York’s figure2026 Q2+101.7%63rd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year1.5Top 5%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year71.9%37th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1692024 ACS 5-Year51,97083rd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$816Top 28%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,284Top 22%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,071Top 36%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$342024 ACS 5-Year$818Top 39%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$3,4102024 ACS 5-Year$121,90018th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1162024 ACS 5-Year$2,84483rd percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$2,9972024 ACS 5-Year$79,263Top 44%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.12%2024 ACS 5-Year2.33%99th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year30.3%Bottom 26%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±3892024 ACS 5-Year6,24295th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year12.0%85th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year7.8%40th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±5282024 ACS 5-Year10,30491st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures.

Development Momentum

39/ 100
Ranks 1,023 of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was upward, in a series running from 2022 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has fallen 2% since 2020, to 106,198 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 226 units authorized in 2025, up 5% on the prior year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 204 units permitted over the past twelve months, only 2% are in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across St. Lawrence County in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $65,141, above the $59,874 of households that moved out.

At 1.9 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
204
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.9
Bottom 35% nationally
Year over year
−7%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
2.5%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024108k106k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been falling for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.2%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
53%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$65,141
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$59,874
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Franklin County, NY 279 people · 12% of arrivals
  2. Jefferson County, NY 224 people · 9.9% of arrivals
  3. Onondaga County, NY 72 people · 3.2% of arrivals
  4. Lewis County, NY 47 people · 2.1% of arrivals
  5. Monroe County, NY 41 people · 1.8% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Jefferson County, NY 221 people · 9.2% of departures
  2. Franklin County, NY 212 people · 8.9% of departures
  3. Onondaga County, NY 88 people · 3.7% of departures
  4. Monroe County, NY 61 people · 2.5% of departures
  5. Clinton County, NY 57 people · 2.4% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2022202320242025233215
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was close to 2022 (−3%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 80°F and January a low of 7°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 38.2 inches, including 77.3 inches of snow.

0°20°40°60°80°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station CANTON 4 SE, 6.4 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals38.2"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals77.3"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals7°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals80°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals53°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

73 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, cold wave and earthquake, with inland flooding alone responsible for 68% of it. Cold wave is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

Ice stormModerate
EarthquakeHigh
Inland floodingModerate
Heat waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: cold wave, winter weather, lightning, landslide, hurricane, strong wind, wildfire, tornado, avalanche, hail, drought, tsunami, volcanic activity, coastal flooding.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

St. Lawrence County has a modeled homicide rate of about 2.0 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 9.4 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 13.1 per 100,000 residents in St. Lawrence County.

Homicide
2.0
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
9.4
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
13.1
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
16.8
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe St. Lawrence County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Plattsburgh Intl at 80 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year86.8%Top 50%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle80 miBottom 9%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle2Bottom 15%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1.0%2024 ACS 5-Year9.8%Top 47%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Plattsburgh IntlPBG80 mi11,759 ft
Griffiss IntlRME88 mi11,820 ft
Syracuse Hancock IntlSYR108 mi9,013 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

Cities in St. Lawrence County, NY