Courtesy Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce
By Todd Shimkus, CCE
Every month, the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce publishes what we call the “Insider’s Report,” a collection of current statistics and trends which tell us how Saratoga’s economy is performing. While the name suggests one thing, the reality is that anyone who is interested in this exclusive information can subscribe to receive the report.
The Insider’s Report is now among our most popular emails with thousands of opens every month and an ever-increasing subscriber base, partly because it is the only place you can now get all this information in an easy-to-read format. Here is what subscribers learned in our most recent edition:
Saratoga County sales tax collections were up 7.6 percent January through November in 2023 versus the same time in 2022, from $144.6 million a year ago to $155.7 million this year. The City of Saratoga Springs has also collected 7.1 percent more in 2023 versus 2022, up from $15.2 million in 2022 to $16.27 million in 2023. These increases in sales tax collections have remained steady all year even as inflation has decreased showing that our local economy continues to expand.
Local hotels across Saratoga County reported RevPAR of $107.61 through the first eleven months of 2023, up 6.7 percent from 2022 when RevPAR was $100.81. Overall, hotel revenues for the first eleven months of this year are up 6.4 percent even as demand is up just .5 percent. The average daily rate for a room in Saratoga County has been up in all eleven months of 2023 showing a willingness of consumers and visitors to spend more to stay in Saratoga County.
The Greater Capital Association of REALTORS reported that the median sales price of a home in Saratoga County from January through November was $410,000, up 5.6 percent from the same time a year ago when the median sales price was $388,000. This upward trend has been consistent as the number of closed sales and listings has decreased. Within the City of Saratoga, the median sales price of a home year to date is $616,238. This past year marked the first time Saratoga County’s median sales price moved above $400,000 and the City’s above $600,000.
Saratoga County’s labor force totaled 126,800 as of November 2023, up 5.6 percent from the same time one year ago when the labor force was 121,400. As of November 2023, there are 123,200 people employed in Saratoga County and 3,600 unemployed, resulting in an unemployment rate of 2.8 percent. The number employed is up 5,100 from one year ago and the number unemployed is up by 600 people.
Beyond the data, the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce hosted more ribbon cutting celebrations in 2023 than we did the year before. Local bank presidents tell me that they are continuing to see increasing applications for personal and business financing as well as healthy deposits. On Broadway in Saratoga Springs, there is not one first-floor vacancy, and in Schuylerville we look forward to continuing the renaissance of that Village with a $4.5 million economic development grant that we helped prepare.
Best of all, our population – – unlike in most of New York State – – continues to increase as more people choose to live in Saratoga County where you can “Live Like You’re On Vacation.” In fact, this is a mantra that we should be shouting out to the world as people look for safe, healthy, and vibrant places to live, work, and play. Growing our population by attracting talent that can help us to overcome our historic labor shortage is vital and a priority of the Saratoga County Chamber.
Saratoga’s economy appears to be on an upward trajectory. But in Saratoga Springs where the median sales price is over $600,000, we cannot be a “City in the Country” just for the wealthy, which means we must find places to build more workforce housing. Throughout Saratoga County, we will need expanded public transportation to better connect more people with jobs, educational opportunities, health care and shopping, just as CDTA has done with Flex on Demand in Mechanicville, Clifton Park, Halfmoon, and now Stillwater. This can all be done if we just collaborate and remember that we are always Stronger Together.