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See What Washington County, New York has to Offer

The Greater Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) covers both Warren and Washington Counties, New York. Demographics are as reported in the 2000 Census unless otherwise noted.

The Farmers Insurance Group of Companies, in its annual study, named the Glens Falls MSA fifth in the nation as the most secure place to live among small metros. The criteria measured were crime, extreme weather, natural disaster and employment statistics. -Farmers Insurance Group website 2007

Time Zone

• Eastern Standard or Eastern Daylight Savings

Climate

• Temperate: USDA Zones 4 & 5 Average Temperature: January 19.8 degrees F. Lows can reach â¬30 degrees F. July 70.9 degrees F. Highs in the 90s are not uncommon Average Precipitation: Rain: 39.27 inches. Snow: 68.3 inches. Average first snow in November. Average last snow in March.

Geography

• Elevation Highest: 1,415 ft. above sea level. Lowest: 60 ft. above sea level. Adirondack Park: 6 million acres Terrain: South - Flat to rolling hills. North - Mountainous broken by lakes, ponds, rivers and streams Flora: Agricultural interspersed with forests.

County Population

2008 estimate: 62,804 Population growth since 2000: 2.9% 2009 projected: 63,608 Land area: 835.4 sq. mi. Water area: 10.4 sq. mi. The largest lakes are Champlain and George. Primary rivers are the Hudson, Batten Kill and Metowee.

Municipalities include

• Village of Hudson Falls
• Village of Fort Edward
• Village of Whitehall
• Village of Granville
• Village of Greenwich
• Village of Cambridge
• Village of Salem
• Village of Fort Ann.
• Town of Putnam
• Town of Dresden
• Town of Hampton
• Town of Hartford
• Town of Kingsbury
• Town of Argyle
• Town of Hebron
• Town of Jackson
• Town of Easton
• Town of White Creek.

Races in Washington County

• White Non-Hispanic: 93.0%
• African-American: 3.4%
• Hispanic: 2.4%
• Other race: 0.6%
• Two or more races: 0.8%
• American Indian: 0.2% (Total can be greater than 100% because Hispanics could be counted in other races) Number of foreign born residents: 1,153 (48% naturalized citizens)
• Median age: 37.5 years
• Males: 51.3%
• Females: 48.7%

Elementary and Secondary Schools

• Warren-Saratoga-Washington-Hamilton-Essex Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) in Fort Edward.
• Fort Ann Central School Hudson Falls Central School Washington County public schools spend $8,190 per student. The US average expenditure is $6,058. There are about 14 students per teacher in Washington County (Sperling, 2008). The New York State estimated cost per pupil is $18,768. (NYS Commission on Property Tax Relief, 2009).

Colleges and Universities that serve Washington County

• Adirondack Community College in Queensbury, part of the State University of NY and sponsored by Warren and Washington Counties. S
• UNY Plattsburgh Extension Center on the Adirondack Community College campus.
• College of St. Joseph, Rutland, VT.
• Empire State College, Latham and Saratoga Springs.
• Siena College School of Business in Loudonville.

Education

• Current college students: 1,750 People 25 years of age or older with a high school diploma or higher: 79.2% People 25 years of age or older with a bachelorâ¬"s degree or higher: 14.3%

Households

• Average household size in Washington County: 2.55 Per capita household income (2003): $18,049
• Median household income (2007): $44,043
• Median house sale price (2008): $192,400
• Median rent for a 2-bedroom apartment (2007): $737 a month
• Total Retail Sales (2003): $321,512,000 2007

Statewide 56 County Ranking: Taxes Per Capita: #52 Washington County $706 2007

Statewide 56 County Ranking: Social Services Per Capita: #17 Washington County $548 Source: Office of the NYS Comptroller, excluding the New York Metropolitan area.

2007 Capital Region Ranking: Total Expenditure Per Capita: #4 Washington County - $1,877. Information provided by the Public Policy Institute, the research affiliate of The Business Council of New York State, and the Empire Center for New York State Policy.

Industries providing employment

• Education, health and social services: 20.8%
• Manufacturing: 18.8%
• Retail trade: 13.2%

Largest Employers in Washington County (* ARCC members):

• 1) Glens Falls Hospital *
• 2) Glens Falls National Bank & Trust Co. *
• 3) Community, Work & Independence, Inc.*
• 4) TD Bank *
• 5) Irving Tissue, Inc.
• 6) General Electric Co. *
• 7) Fort Hudson Health System, Inc. *
• 8) Telescope Casual Furniture, Inc.
• 9) National Grid *
• 10) Covidian *
• 11) Hollingsworth & Vose

Type of workers

• Private wage or salary: 72%
• Government: 18%
• Self-employed, not incorporated: 9%
• Unpaid family work: 1%

Employment

• Average weekly wage (June 2007): $682 (US DOL Bureau of Labor Statistics)
• Unemployment rate September 2009 (NYS DOL): 7.4%
• Mean travel time to work: 24.4 minutes
• NYS DOL Analysis - September 2009: From September 2008 to September 2009, the number of private sector jobs in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy area fell 10,500, or 3.0%, to 334,600. Job gains were limited to educational and health services (+400). Losses were greatest in natural resources, mining and construction (-2,600), business services (-1,900), trade, transportation and utilities (-1,700) and manufacturing (-1,300).

Transportation

Air

• The Floyd Bennett Memorial Airport is owned and operated by Warren County and is located on approximately 500 acres three miles northeast of downtown Glens Falls, just off the New York State Route 254 (Quaker Road) in the Town of Queensbury. The airport also borders Washington County's Town of Kingsbury and is adjacent to the Warren-Washington Counties Industrial Park. Runway 1-119 has a length of 5,000 feet by 150 feet and runway 12-30 is now 4,000 feet by 100 feet. The runways and the five taxiways are precision instrument runways with HIRL lights (pilot controlled). 792-5995.
• Albany International Airport 869-9611 - 50 miles south of Hudson Falls and served by several national and international carriers.

Rail

• Amtrakâ¬"s "Adirondack" passenger service between New York City and Montreal. Stops in Saratoga Springs, Fort Edward and Whitehall. (800) 872-7245.
• CP Rail serves Glens Falls, Queensbury, Fort Edward, Fort Ann and Whitehall. Waterways: Champlain Branch of the New York State Barge Canal: From the south start at New York City; proceed north via the Hudson River to the Port of Albany, then to Lock 1 in Waterford. Cruise the canal north to Lock 12 in Whitehall, the entry into Lake Champlain; the Richelieu River and the St. Lawrence. The northern end of the route is also navigable in reverse from Montreal to New York City.

Bus

• Greater Glens Falls Transit. 792-1085. Local service to Glens Falls, Hudson Falls, Fort Edward, South Glens Falls, Queensbury and Lake George. Adirondack Trailways (800) 858-8555 and Greyhound (800) 231-2222 - National connecting service.

Car/Truck

• The Adirondack Northway (I-87) is the primary route through the North Country.
• Other main roads are U.S. Route 9 in Saratoga, Warren and Essex Counties, and U.S. Route 4 from Saratoga County through Washington County to Whitehall, then east to Rutland, VT. NY 22 is a north-south route through Washington County as is NY 40. NY 32 is a north-south route through Warren and Saratoga Counties to the Capital District. Main east-west routes are NY 28, 29, 30 and 149.

Agriculture

• Average size of farms: 232 acres
• Average value of agricultural products sold per farm: $92,413
• Average value of crops sold per acre for harvested cropland: $114.37
• The value of nursery, greenhouse, floriculture, and sod as a percentage of the total market value of agricultural products sold: 1.51%
• The value of livestock, poultry, and their products as a percentage of the total market value of agricultural products sold: 85.52%
• Average total farm production expenses per farm: $88,313
• Harvested cropland as a percentage of land in farms: 50.33%
• Irrigated harvested cropland as a percentage of land in farms: 0.67%
• Average market value of all machinery and equipment per farm: $94,903
• The percentage of farms operated by a family or individual: 84.10%
• Average age of principal farm operators: 53 years
• Average number of cattle and calves per 100 acres of all land in farms: 25.76
• Milk cows as a percentage of all cattle and calves: 46.72%
• Corn for grain: 7,355
• harvested acres All wheat for grain: 285
• harvested acres Soybeans for beans: 432
• harvested acres Vegetables: 1,100
• harvested acres Land in orchards: 435 acre

Washington County historical area-adjusted tornado activity is significantly below New York state average. It is 6.4 times below overall U.S. average.

Tornadoes in this county have caused one injury recorded between 1950 and 2004.

Total withdrawal of fresh water for public supply: 3.66 millions of gallons per day (48% from ground, 52% from surface) For additional information, please contact the Washington County Local Development Corp. at (518) 746-2292 or online at www.wcldc.org.