What is the population of Watertown city?

Watertown city has 24,574 residents on Census ACS 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, ranking #68 of 1,292 in New York.

What is the median household income in Watertown city?

Median household income in Watertown city is $49,692 a year, 36.7% below the national figure of $78,538.

How much does it cost to rent or buy in Watertown city?

Median gross rent is $933 a month and the median home value is $149,800, so rent absorbs about 22.5% of median household income.

Is Watertown city affordable compared with the rest of the US?

Homes cost about 3× the local median income here versus roughly 3.9× nationally, so Watertown city is more affordable to buy in than the typical US market, and rent takes 22.5% of median income against the 30% cost-burden line.

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New York · Census place 78608

Watertown, NY population, income and ZIP codes

Quick answer

The population of the city of Watertown, New York (Watertown, NY — Census place “Watertown city”) is 24,574 residents, ranking #68 of 1292 places in New York. Median household income is $49,692, the median home is worth $149,800 and median gross rent runs $933 a month. Looking for the Watertown New York ZIP code list? 1 ZIP codes serve Watertown, NY: 13601.

Population: 24,574Watertown city residents
Median household income: $49,692Past 12 months, inflation adjusted
Median home value: $149,800Owner-occupied units
Median gross rent: $933Rent plus utilities, monthly
Median age: 35.6 yrsAll residents
Homeownership rate: 41.6%Owner-occupied households

Watertown ZIP codes (New York)

Census ZCTAs whose delivery area overlaps Watertown.

The Watertown NY ZIP code list below covers 1 ZIP code. Open any one for its population, income, housing and rent profile.

13601

What the numbers mean in Watertown city

Housing cost measured against local earnings.

A household earning the Watertown city median would spend about 22.5% of gross income on the median rent. The 30% mark is the federal threshold for cost burden, so anything above it signals a stretched rental market. The median home costs 3.0× the median household income; nationally that ratio sits near 4.5×. Poverty affects 20.8% of residents and 41.6% of households own their home.

Source: US Census Bureau, ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimates · rates as published for 2019-2023 ACS 5-year

Watertown city, NY in context

How this area compares with national benchmarks.

Watertown city is a mid-size town in New York, with 24,574 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #68 of 1,292 ranked by population — larger than 94% of them. The median age here is 35.6 years against 39.1 nationally, a slightly younger profile than the country as a whole. Places under 65,000 residents only appear in the five-year release, never the one-year file, so these values pool sixty months of responses and lag the current year by design.

Households in Watertown city earn a median of $49,692 a year, 36.7% below the national figure of $78,538 and 46% below the $91,806 median for the 847 New York cities we cover. This figure covers the household, not the worker: two people on ordinary wages at one address outrank a single professional in the same table. Poverty reaches 20.8% of residents here, well above the 12.4% national rate, which is the single clearest signal in this dataset that median income here is carried by a narrow band of households.

The typical owner-occupied home in Watertown city is valued at $149,800, 50.6% below the national figure and 53% below the $315,800 peer median, while median gross rent runs $933 a month, 33.6% below the national figure, or roughly $11,196 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 22.5% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is within the standard affordability guideline. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 3×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is easier here than in the average US market. 41.6% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, a renter-majority market, so rent figures matter more here than the home-value line. Gross rent folds in the utilities a tenant pays separately, so it is closer to the real monthly outlay than a headline rent figure.

No figure on this page is estimated by us; each one comes straight from the published ACS tables for this area. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.

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Frequently asked questions

Common questions about this area.

What is the population of Watertown city?: Watertown city has 24,574 residents on Census ACS 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, ranking #68 of 1,292 in New York.
What is the median household income in Watertown city?: Median household income in Watertown city is $49,692 a year, 36.7% below the national figure of $78,538.
How much does it cost to rent or buy in Watertown city?: Median gross rent is $933 a month and the median home value is $149,800, so rent absorbs about 22.5% of median household income.
Is Watertown city affordable compared with the rest of the US?: Homes cost about 3× the local median income here versus roughly 3.9× nationally, so Watertown city is more affordable to buy in than the typical US market, and rent takes 22.5% of median income against the 30% cost-burden line.
How current is this Watertown city data?: All figures come from the US Census Bureau American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year five-year estimates. Places under 65,000 residents only appear in the five-year release, never the one-year file, so these values pool sixty months of responses and lag the current year by design.