The indicators in this section highlight the economic status of the greater Syracuse area.  A sustainable, vibrant economy is necessary for a thriving community.  A healthy economy results in adequate job supply and wages, and as a result higher quality of life outcomes.

Sector employment data show that in the Syracuse Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), the manufacturing, construction, and information sectors have shown some of the largest annual declines in employment. However, the health care, management, and accommodation sectors have experienced consistent increases in employment throughout the time period.

Wages have grown steadily across the region, although the Syracuse MSA, New York State, and the United States’ wage growth slowed in 2008-09. All locations, however, showed positive wage growth even though the Consumer Price Index (the government’s measure of inflation) decreased slightly in 2009 from the 2008 index.

In comparison to the other 61 counties in New York, 41 of 61 NYS counties reported a median household income lower than Onondaga County, while 20 reported a higher median income, as of 2010.

Business growth within Syracuse has been relatively stagnant since 2004. The number of firms with more than 500 employees is the largest type of employer, followed by firms with less than 500 employees, then organizations with fewer than 20 employees. The Small Business Administration reports that an increase in small businesses has a significant impact on the gross product of a state or county.

Please Note:

Many of the indicators related to the economy are collected across the Syracuse Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) in order to capture our economic system.  An MSA is defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as a geographic entity that contains a core urban area population of 50,000 or more and includes the county where the core area is located and may include adjacent counties that have a high degree of societal and economic integration with that urban core. The Syracuse MSA is a 3,083 square-mile area which has consisted of Madison, Onondaga and Oswego counties since 2003.  From 1999 to 2003 the MSA also included Cayuga County.