About Fulton County
Fulton County is a premier place to live, visit, and work in upstate New York. The County is renowned for its attractive quality of life, beautiful rural landscapes, charming communities, historic cities and popular recreation destinations, including Great Sacandaga Lake, a top attraction in the Region. Fulton County is located within New York’s “Technology Triangle” formed by GlobalFoundries to the east, SUNY Poly College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering to the south and Marcy Nanocenter at SUNY Polytechnic Institute to the west. It offers diverse well‐paying jobs and a high‐quality, low‐cost small‐town lifestyle.
Expansive and Well Educated Regional Workforce:
The regional labor pool totals approximately 500,000 workers and includes nine counties (Albany, Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer, Montgomery, Otsego, Saratoga, Schenectady and Schoharie.) This nine‐county region has over 23,000 establishments with annual payroll of nearly $15.5 billion providing an average annual wage of just over $43,000.
Attractive Cost of Living and Rising Home Values:
The current market demand for new homes and apartments is over 560. This demand could increase with successful County economic development efforts. High quality of life, access to world class recreation and expanding job opportunities support steadily increasing home values making them more accessible than surrounding counties.
Nearly 45% of workers are college graduates. Fifteen colleges and universities are within commuting distance of Fulton County. Fulton Montgomery Community College (FMCC) offers tailor-‐made training and is a source of skilled workers for local companies. Recent economic research projects private sector employment growth of 65,500 jobs in the regional labor market between 2010 and 2020. U.S. Census projections show the labor pool growing by approximately 700 jobs by 2020 in Fulton County.
Fulton County Regional Labor Market
45 Mile Radius Includes: Albany, Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer, Montgomery, Otsego, Saratoga, Schenectady and Schoharie Counties (2015) (Rounded)
| Population | 781,000 |
| Employed Labor Force | 463,000 |
| Unemployed Labor Force | 35,150 |
| Unemployment Rate | 4.50% |
| % College Graduates | 45% |
| % Graduate Degrees | 15% |
| Mean travel time to work (mins) | 24 |
| Median Annual Wage/Hour | $21.00 |
Diverse Development Opportunities:
Reasonable cost of living, low crime rates, affordable commercial rents and land prices are competitive advantages of living and doing business in Fulton County. There is current market support for over 400,000 SF of new retail. Primary Development Areas in the Towns of Johnstown, Mayfield and Perth and shovel‐ready sites are served by strong infrastructure and transportation networks. Gloversville and Johnstown’s walkable and historic downtowns offer unique spaces for new shops and housing. Recent downtown successes like downtown Wi‐Fi, Mohawk Harvest, loft conversions in Gloversville and a hotel conversion in Johnstown illustrate the investment opportunities available in both downtowns.
