Census-designated place · Jefferson County, New York

Fort Drum, New York

Fort Drum is a census-designated place in Jefferson County, New York, part of the Watertown-Fort Drum, NY metro area. It has 16,065 residents. Fort Drum, New York has a quality-of-life score of 69 out of 100 (high), ranking #4,777 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within New York it ranks #515 of 859 cities and towns. It ranks best on average commute time (low), hot days (low) and public libraries (high). It ranks worst on time spent in the emergency room (high), new business applications (low) and voter turnout (low).

69High

Quality-of-life score: #4,777 of 15,651 cities and towns
New York: #515 of 859 in NY
Population: 16,065 (2020-2024)
Land area: 14 mi²
Density: 1,120.3 /mi²
FIPS code: 3626759

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 71 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety77#3,623/15,637
Economy24#11,818/15,631
Housing—
Health59#6,469/15,609
Healthcare54#7,261/15,650
Environment95#731/15,453
Education74#4,039/15,649
Infrastructure66#5,329/15,650
Community32#10,660/15,651
Leisure & amenities73#4,216/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Fort Drum, New York ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Jefferson County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Average commute time · low11.1 min
99/100New York 32.6 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Hot days · low2 days
94/100New York 3 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationJefferson County value
Public libraries · high2.2 /10k
93/100New York 0.5 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesJefferson County value
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · low5.7 µg/m³
92/100New York 7.2 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyJefferson County value
Depression · low17.9%
92/100New York 18.0%United States 20.7%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Uninsured residents (under 65) · low2.0%
92/100New York 5.9%United States 9.8%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B27010

Weaknesses

Time spent in the emergency room · high260 min
2/100New York 202 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesJefferson County value
New business applications · low7.2 /1k
3/100New York 15.1 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauJefferson County value
Voter turnout · low49.3%
4/100New York 59.5%United States 65.2%2024U.S. Election Assistance CommissionJefferson County value
Comfortable days · low22.2%
4/100New York 22.7%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationJefferson County value
Hospital quality rating · low2.0
9/100New York 2.8United States 3.2Jul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesJefferson County value
Child care cost burden · high39.8%
9/100New York 37.7%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteJefferson County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationRising
13,020 (2015-2019) → 16,065 (2020-2024)
+23%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
30.0% (2015-2019) → 34.8% (2020-2024)
+4.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Median household incomeImproving
$50,711 (2015-2019) → $62,291 (2020-2024)
+23%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Unemployment rateImproving
12.3% (2015-2019) → 8.7% (2020-2024)
−3.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%
Broadband subscriptionsWorsening
96.1% (2015-2019) → 92.7% (2020-2024)
−3.3 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Average commute timeWorsening
9.6 min (2015-2019) → 11.1 min (2020-2024)
+16%5 yearsCensus table B08013US 26.9 min → 26.4 min

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Fort Drum, New York improved on 1 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 12 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved1

Household income+23%$50,711 → $62,291

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Fort Drum, New York between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	9.6 min2015-2019	11.1 min2020-2024	+1.5 min	Within the margin of error	31%
Bachelor's degree or higher	30.0%2015-2019	34.8%2020-2024	+4.8 points	Within the margin of error	66%
Broadband subscriptions	96.1%2015-2019	92.7%2020-2024	−3.3 points	Within the margin of error	3%
Child poverty rate	13.1%2015-2019	14.5%2020-2024	+1.3 points	Within the margin of error	33%
High school diploma or higher	97.5%2015-2019	97.5%2020-2024	+0 points	Within the margin of error	33%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3302015-2019	0.3692020-2024	+0.038	Within the margin of error	22%
Median household income	$50,7112015-2019	$62,2912020-2024	+23%	Improved	39%
Poverty rate	9.9%2015-2019	11.7%2020-2024	+1.9 points	Within the margin of error	27%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	33.2%2015-2019	32.5%2020-2024	−0.7 points	Within the margin of error	61%
Rent-burdened households	58.6%2015-2019	55.9%2020-2024	−2.7 points	Within the margin of error	65%
Unemployment rate	12.3%2015-2019	8.7%2020-2024	−3.6 points	Within the margin of error	92%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	1.7%2015-2019	2.0%2020-2024	+0.3 points	Within the margin of error	43%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Fort Drum, New York five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Fort Drum, New York in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Fort Drum, New York itself moved −4.5 points in standing on average over the same 8 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

16,065 residents (±700)

Men
Women

80 and over
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

5,087 households (±340)

Fort Drum, New York
New York share

Under $25k13%†682
$25k–50k30%†1,503
$50k–75k

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

5,087 households (±340)

Fort Drum, New York
New York share

Own4.1%†206
Rent96%4,881

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+3.3 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

8,613 workers (±560)

Fort Drum, New York
New York share

Drive alone65%5,614
Carpool11%†966
Public transit0.0%0

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Watertown-Fort Drum, NY

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Jefferson County, the county holding most of Fort Drum's residents.

Jefferson County has 2,348 employer establishments, 207 for every 10,000 residents (0.83× the US rate of 248; 0.76× New York's), with 28,622 paid employees at an average annual pay of $48,718. The Census Bureau also counts 6,068 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 2,348; 6,068 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 207; US 248 · New York 274
Paid employees: 28,622
Average annual pay: $48,718; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Jefferson County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Restaurants and other eating places	237	20.9	1.14×About typical	3,267	$22,816	32
Ambulatory health care services	154	13.6	0.65×Fewer than typical	1,898	$62,952	215
Specialty trade contractors	142	12.5	0.81×About typical	821	$67,065	407
Full-service restaurants	111	9.8	1.28×More than typical	1,415	$26,411	21
Lessors of real estate	107	9.4	0.77×Fewer than typical	558	$47,944	644
Construction of buildings	103	9.1	1.20×About typical	551	$73,425	218
Limited-service restaurants	88	7.8	0.97×About typical	1,590	$19,637	6
Services to buildings and dwellings	61	5.4	0.80×Fewer than typical	217	$40,447	350
Religious organizations	60	5.3	0.95×About typical	249	$18,458	—
Automotive repair and maintenance	57	5	1.00×About typical	235	$43,898	80
Offices of physicians	50	4.4	0.68×Fewer than typical	597	$83,838	51
Amusement, gambling and recreation industries	49	4.3	1.63×More than typical	250	$32,072	52

Rank places for an industry Open Jefferson County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 113,280 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $52M of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Fort Drum, New York: $3,235 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $52M; −30% vs FY2025
Per resident: $3,235; US $1,994
Sole-source: 20%; US 30%
Single offer: 9.8%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Department of the Army$48.4M93%
Federal Acquisition Service$1.4M2.7%
Defense Commissary Agency$912.6K1.8%
USTRANSCOM$910.5K1.8%
Defense Logistics Agency$162.4K0.3%
Department of the Air Force$137.7K0.3%
Federal Prison Industries / Unicor$62.5K0.1%

Top recipients

ARMITAGE SAI JV$8.8M17%
UPSTATE CONSTRUCTION SERVICES INC$7.7M15%
CW RESOURCES, INC.$4.7M9.1%
CADENCE CONTRACT SERVICES, LLC$4.6M8.9%
NYSARC, INC.$3.6M6.9%

Spending by fiscal year

53.8MFY2017
82.6MFY2018
70.5MFY2019
96.2MFY2020
111.4MFY2021
112.3MFY2022
107.8MFY2023
111.8M

Top industries (NAICS)

Nonresidential building construction · 2362$22.3M43%
Services to buildings and dwellings · 5617$8.9M17%
Computer systems design and related services · 5415$3.5M6.8%
Facilities support services · 5612$2.4M4.5%
Remediation and other waste management services · 5629$2.3M4.5%
Other support services · 5619

Largest awards whose ZIP code lies mostly in Fort Drum, New York

REMEDIAL INVESTIGATIONS FOR PER- AND POLYFLUOROALKYL SUBSTANCES (PFAS) IMPACTED AREAS AT ARMY INSTALLATIONS IN THE NORTHEAST REGION$26.1M
SERES-ARCADIS SB JV2 LLC· Jefferson County, NY· Facilities & utilities· Feb 3, 2022 – Apr 9, 2026· W912DR22C0006
REPAIR AND RENOVATE FACILITY, P2060 (HANGAR)$14.7M
ARMITAGE SAI JV· Jefferson County, NY· Construction & real property· May 9, 2025 – May 11, 2026· W911S225FA103
LAND MOBILE RADIO INFRASTRUCTURE MAINTENANCE SUPPORT FOR ARMY 7TH SIGNAL COMMAND$14M
CYNERGY PROFESSIONAL SYSTEMS LLC· Jefferson County, NY· IT & telecom· May 30, 2023 – May 29, 2026· W91RUS23F0148

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Fort Drum, New York, so they do not add up across cities.

Fort Drum, New York's figures are part of those of Jefferson County, NY ($93.1M in FY2026), never added to them: 56% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Fort Drum is mostly in Jefferson County.

See federal money in Jefferson County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Fort Drum, New York is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).

House

Senate

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Jefferson County77100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Watertown-Fort Drum, NY79

Other cities and towns in Jefferson County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/3626759

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends