What is the cost of living in Watertown-Fort Drum?

Watertown-Fort Drum has a Regional Price Parity (RPP) of 87.7, where 100 represents the national average. Housing costs index at 53.2, which is below the national average. The average 2-bedroom rent is $1,405/month.

What is the median salary in Watertown-Fort Drum?

The median salary in Watertown-Fort Drum is $62,801 annually (mean: $66,611). Top occupations include Retail Salespersons, Fast Food and Counter Workers, Cashiers.

How safe is Watertown-Fort Drum?

The violent crime rate in the Watertown-Fort Drum area is 380 per 100,000 population (state-level data). Property crime rate is 1661 per 100K.

What are the schools like in Watertown-Fort Drum?

The state of NY has 4,812 schools (state-level data, no metro-level federal count exists) with an average student-teacher ratio of 11.8:1. Charter schools make up 7.1% of all schools.

How much does childcare cost in Watertown-Fort Drum?

Infant center-based childcare in the Watertown-Fort Drum area averages $13,869 per year. Preschool averages $11,679/year. These are state-level averages.

Is Watertown-Fort Drum a good place to relocate?

Watertown-Fort Drum has a Life Score of 49.3/100 (D), based on 7 of 7 available dimensions among cost of living, wages, rent, crime, schools, childcare, and environment (missing dims omitted, weights renormalized). This is a middle-of-the-pack score, where the composite lands for most US metros; look at individual dimensions to see the real trade-offs.

Where does Watertown-Fort Drum sit among US metros on LiveAbility?

According to PlainRelocate's LiveAbility composite, Watertown-Fort Drum ranks #37 of 387 scored US metros by LiveAbility Score (highest score = #1). That ordinal matches the /rankings/livability listing. See /methodology#corpus-placement for the exact sort basis.

Relocation profile · Federal data

Watertown-Fort Drum, NY

LiveAbility 61.7/100 places Watertown-Fort Drum #37 of 387 (top third of scored metros).

Compiled by PlainRelocate · June 15, 2026

87.7
Cost index (US=100): $1,405
2BR rent / mo: $62,801
Median salary: 61.7
LiveAbility Score

The verdict

As of June 2026, Watertown-Fort Drum ranks #37 of 387 US metros on the LiveAbility Score (61.7/100), with its strongest marks in schools and air quality.

#37
of 387 US metros · Excellent: 19,867,248
metro-area population: 380
violent crimes per 100K (state-level): 4,812
schools in the state (NCES)

Weakest dimension: low hazard (20/100). Weigh every dimension against your own priorities, use the City Finder to re-rank by what matters to you.

According to PlainRelocate's LiveAbility composite (BEA, BLS, HUD, FBI, NCES, EPA, NOAA, and FEMA inputs), Watertown-Fort Drum ranks #37 of 387 scored US metros by LiveAbility Score (highest score = #1). Cost-of-living index 87.7 (100 = national average), median 2-bedroom rent $1,405/mo, median salary $62,801; LiveAbility Score 61.7/100, strongest in schools and air quality.

Signature: LiveAbility 61.7/100 places Watertown-Fort Drum #37 of 387 (top third of scored metros).

Purchasing power opens up: BEA RPP 87.7 lands in the cheaper third of scored metros (cuts at 91.5 / 97.0). Median 2BR rent $1,405/mo.

LiveAbility 61.7/100 puts Watertown-Fort Drum in the top third (#37 of 387).

BLS OEWS total employment in the Watertown-Fort Drum area is 34,160.

Watertown-Fort Drum vs all US metros by LiveAbility Score

Where this metro's LiveAbility Score falls among every scored US metro (composite placement, not a desirability verdict)

62 Top 10% higher than 90% of 387 US metros

Metros banded by LiveAbility Score (0–100)

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US metros. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source PlainRelocate LiveAbility Score · June 2026

Watertown-Fort Drum housing and rent

HUD Fair Market Rents for the Watertown-Fort Drum MSA; housing RPP 53.2 (100 = national average); 2BR $1,405/mo.

Studio

$969

/month

1 Bedroom

$1,071

/month

2 Bedroom

$1,405

/month

3 Bedroom

$1,907

/month

4 Bedroom

$2,340

/month

Watertown-Fort Drum wages and employment

Watertown-Fort Drum posts 34,160 total employment with median salary $62,801 against a cheaper-than-average RPP.

Median Salary

$62,801

Mean Salary

$66,611

Total Employment

34,160

Top Occupations by Employment

Occupation	Median Salary
Retail Salespersons	$34,280
Fast Food and Counter Workers	$32,580
Cashiers	$33,040
Home Health and Personal Care Aides	$37,440
Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary	$34,190

Schools & Education

State-level education data for the Watertown-Fort Drum area from NCES.

Schools

4,812

Enrollment

2,505,133

Student:Teacher

11.8:1

Title I %

Childcare Costs

State-average childcare costs for the Watertown-Fort Drum area (DOL data).

Infant (Center)

$13,869

per year

Toddler (Center)

$12,979

per year

Preschool (Center)

$11,679

per year

Life Score Breakdown

Watertown-Fort Drum's composite Life Score is 49.3/100 (D), computed across 7 of 7 dimensions.

Cost

89/100

Elite

Wages

59/100

Above average

Rent

38/100

Below average

Crime

36/100

Below average

Schools

6/100

Bottom decile

Childcare

18/100

Bottom decile

Environment

64/100

Above average

LiveAbility Score

View full rankings →

Watertown-Fort Drum ranks #37 out of 387 metros with a LiveAbility Score of 61.7/100 - a composite of 8 of 8 quality-of-life dimensions from federal data. Customize the weights to match your priorities →

Strongest dimension: Schools (94/100)

Schools

94
Air quality

94
Cost of living

89
Job market

59
Climate

53
Housing

38
Safety

36
Low hazard

20

What this shows Watertown-Fort Drum's strongest dimensions are schools and air quality; its weakest among scored dims is low hazard at 20/100. Default weights: cost 18%, jobs & housing 15% each, safety & schools 12%, air & hazard 10%, climate 8%.

Compare Watertown-Fort Drum to

Oshkosh-Neenah Owensboro Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura Paducah Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville Panama City-Panama City Beach

Metros near Watertown-Fort Drum on cost, LiveAbility, or wages

Nearest out-of-state neighbors to Watertown-Fort Drum on BEA RPP, LiveAbility, or BLS median salary, a different lens than the size-ranked list.

Similar cost of living (BEA RPP)

Similar LiveAbility score

Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, HUD Fair Market Rents, BLS OES, FBI UCR, NCES, DOL, EPA June 2026

Watertown-Fort Drum cost figures follow BEA Regional Price Parities and HUD Fair Market Rents; Watertown-Fort Drum wages and LiveAbility inputs follow BLS OEWS plus the federal sources listed in methodology. This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Scores are federal-data percentiles, not a move recommendation. How this data is sourced.

Verify with BEA → · Verify with BLS → · Verify with HUD → · Verify with NOAA → · Verify with FEMA → · Verify with Census →

Thinking about Watertown-Fort Drum?

Watertown-Fort Drum runs a $62,801 median salary at a 87.7 cost index, ranking #37 of 387 nationally on LiveAbility.

See exactly what Watertown-Fort Drum's pay and cost figures mean for your own budget. Salary calculator
Put Watertown-Fort Drum head-to-head against another city on the same dimensions. Compare Watertown-Fort Drum
Abilene is the closest related metro in this corpus -- see how it stacks up. Abilene profile
A cheaper cost index and a higher LiveAbility score don't always point the same direction -- here's how to weigh the trade-off. Cost vs quality guide

Cost, salary and score figures are federal-data percentiles, not a move recommendation.