Watertown-Fort Drum, NY

Across all occupations in the Watertown-Fort Drum, NY metropolitan area, the median wage is $47,600 a year ($22.89 an hour) and the mean $59,110, May 2025. That median is −7% against the US median of $50,980 and −20% against New York's $59,670. BLS counts 39,330 jobs in the area. The highest-paying occupation is computer and information systems managers; the largest is retail salespersons.

All occupations: Watertown-Fort Drum, NY vs New York and the United States

All occupations: wage percentiles, mean and employment in the Watertown-Fort Drum, NY area, New York and nationally, May 2025
Area	Basis	Percentile wage					Mean	Employment
Area	Basis	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	Mean	Employment
Watertown-Fort Drum, NY	Hourly	$15.50	$17.33	$22.89	$33.01	$47.89	$28.42	39,330
Watertown-Fort Drum, NY	Annual	$32,240	$36,040	$47,600	$68,660	$99,610	$59,110	39,330
New York	Hourly	$17.19	$19.79	$28.69	$47.51	$75.72	$39.65	9,688,000
New York	Annual	$35,760	$41,160	$59,670	$98,810	$157,500	$82,460	9,688,000
United States	Hourly	$15.00	$18.07	$24.51	$38.71	$61.81	$33.54	155,495,730
United States	Annual	$31,200	$37,590	$50,980	$80,520	$128,560	$69,770	155,495,730

Annual wage at the 10th, 25th, 50th (median), 75th and 90th percentiles across all occupations in the metro; the line marks the US median. The same numbers are in the table above.

199 detailed occupations publish a median in this area. State profile: New York. Compare any occupation across every area in the wage explorer.

20 highest-paying occupations in Watertown-Fort Drum, NY

Rank	Occupation	Median annual	Median hourly	Employment
1	Computer and Information Systems Managers in New York	$148,540	$71.42	40
2	Sales Managers in New York	$143,280	$68.89	70
3	Pharmacists	$143,250	$68.87	80
4	Lawyers in New York	$136,970	$65.85	70
5	Nurse Practitioners	$133,900	$64.38	70
6	Physician Assistants	$128,870	$61.96	60
7	Managers, All Other in New York	$126,440	$60.79	80
8	Financial Managers in New York	$123,800	$59.52	90
9	Physicians, All Other	$121,040	$58.19	50
10	Software Developers in New York	$119,350	$57.38	80
11	Medical and Health Services Managers	$117,750	$56.61	110
12	Telecommunications Line Installers and Repairers	$108,670	$52.24	30
13	First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives	$106,750	$51.32	70
14	Detectives and Criminal Investigators	$106,110	$51.01	70
15	Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary	$105,050	*	100
16	Administrative Services Managers	$104,990	$50.48	40
17	Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers	$104,410	$50.20	50
18	Project Management Specialists in New York	$104,110	$50.05	140
19	Construction Managers	$103,760	$49.89	40
20	Architects, Except Landscape and Naval	$102,490	$49.27	30

Ranked by median; an occupation whose median BLS withholds or top-codes in this area cannot appear here, however well it pays.

20 largest occupations in Watertown-Fort Drum, NY

Rank	Occupation	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient	Median annual
1	Retail Salespersons in New York	1,490	37.86	1.51	$34,280
2	Fast Food and Counter Workers in New York	1,150	29.24	1.18	$32,580
3	Cashiers in New York	1,100	27.88	1.40	$33,040
4	Home Health and Personal Care Aides in New York	1,090	27.75	1.00	$37,440
5	Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary in New York	990	25.21	2.76	$34,190
6	Registered Nurses in New York	900	22.91	1.05	$96,070
7	Stockers and Order Fillers in New York	840	21.48	1.18	$35,050
8	Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in New York	810	20.69	1.46	$37,510
9	General and Operations Managers in New York	760	19.34	0.86	$93,870
9	Maintenance and Repair Workers, General in New York	760	19.38	1.97	$49,100
11	Waiters and Waitresses in New York	710	18.07	1.24	$38,590
12	Office Clerks, General in New York	560	14.35	0.91	$40,820
13	Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive in New York	500	12.70	1.16	$46,120
14	Substitute Teachers, Short-Term	470	11.92	3.53	$37,810
14	Nursing Assistants in New York	470	11.87	1.27	$38,320
16	Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in New York	450	11.56	0.61	$37,280
17	Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education in New York	440	11.24	1.26	$62,150
18	Customer Service Representatives in New York	420	10.64	0.64	$39,830
19	Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in New York	410	10.31	0.78	$55,260
20	Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks in New York	390	9.89	1.12	$47,100

Most concentrated occupations in Watertown-Fort Drum, NY

The 10 occupations with the highest location quotient among those employing at least 100 people in the area. A quotient of 2.00 means the occupation's share of local jobs is twice its national share.

Rank	Occupation	Location quotient	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Median annual
1	Word Processors and Typists	11.71	100	2.64	$45,810
2	Highway Maintenance Workers	7.67	300	7.64	$48,990
3	Cooks, Short Order	3.58	130	3.20	$34,620
4	Substitute Teachers, Short-Term	3.53	470	11.92	$37,810
5	Special Education Teachers, Secondary School	2.99	120	3.15	$62,110
6	Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary in New York	2.76	990	25.21	$34,190
7	Emergency Medical Technicians	2.43	110	2.83	$41,190
8	Social and Human Service Assistants	2.39	260	6.73	$38,300
9	Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers	2.33	320	8.14	$34,740
10	Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses in New York	2.20	360	9.16	$60,320

Occupation groups in Watertown-Fort Drum, NY

Group	Median annual	Mean annual	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Management	$102,340	$117,980	1,780	45.39	0.63
Legal	$101,930	$115,560	170	4.25	0.51
Architecture and Engineering	$86,260	$90,860	500	12.74	0.76
Life, Physical, and Social Science	$82,640	$86,380	360	9.21	0.97
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical	$82,410	$92,150	2,880	73.22	1.16
Computer and Mathematical	$82,340	$90,030	540	13.72	0.41
Business and Financial Operations	$78,850	$83,410	1,980	50.46	0.74
Protective Service	$68,220	$67,550	1,220	30.91	1.27
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair	$57,550	$59,130	2,310	58.63	1.50
Construction and Extraction	$56,980	$60,760	1,930	49.03	1.19
Educational Instruction and Library	$52,120	$58,870	3,610	91.83	1.57
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media	$52,000	$66,900	320	8.06	0.61
Community and Social Service	$50,670	$57,520	1,060	27.05	1.58
Production	$47,860	$51,030	1,190	30.23	0.55
Office and Administrative Support	$44,940	$48,250	4,440	112.94	0.99
Transportation and Material Moving	$40,490	$45,510	3,120	79.43	0.90
Healthcare Support	$38,120	$40,430	2,020	51.33	1.01
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance	$36,820	$39,980	1,450	36.87	1.26
Sales and Related	$34,890	$44,480	3,720	94.67	1.10
Food Preparation and Serving Related	$34,850	$39,580	3,920	99.64	1.13
Personal Care and Service	$33,630	$37,730	780	19.76	0.94
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry	–	–	–	–	–

Every occupation in New York, and the area's place among the state's metros, is on the state profile. All 199 published occupations for this area are in the wage explorer; other metros are on the metros hub.

Source and notes

Data: BLS OEWS May 2025, released 2026-05-15. Cross-industry estimates, all ownerships. BLS page: OEWS Watertown-Fort Drum, NY estimates (area 48060).

*: Wage estimate not available.

Annual wages assume 2,080 hours a year at the hourly rate; occupations BLS publishes on one basis only show an en dash (–) on the other.
Employment is rounded to the nearest 10 by BLS. Where BLS withholds a cell, nothing is estimated in its place.
Jobs per 1,000 is the occupation's employment per 1,000 jobs in the Watertown-Fort Drum, NY area; the location quotient is that share divided by the national share.
The concentration table keeps only occupations with employment of 100 or more in the area, so a quotient built on a handful of rounded jobs cannot top it.