Schenectady, Rensselaer, Warren among NY’s Top for Productivity Growth

GE Vernova in Schenectady

Three Capital Region counties ranked among New York’s top five fastest-growing counties for productivity growth in 2023, according to a Center for Economic Growth (CEG) analysis of new data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

In 2023, the eight-county Capital Region had a gross domestic product (GDP) of $98.8 billion in current dollars. When taking inflation into account (in chained 2017 dollars), the region’s real GDP increased over the year by 2.0 percent. Among New York’s 10 economic development regions, that was the second fastest-growing real GDP, trailing only the Western New York region at 2.6 percent.

Driving the Capital Region’s real GDP growth were Schenectady, Rensselaer and Warren counties. At 5.0 percent, Schenectady County’s real GDP growth was the fastest growing in the state. Rensselaer County had the state’s second fastest real GDP growth rate at 4.7 percent and Warren County had the fourth at 3.8 percent.

Manufacturing played a role in boosting the Capital Region’s GDP. At $13.1 billion in current dollars, the region’s manufacturing sector ranked first for productivity in upstate New York, whereas in 2018 its manufacturing GDP was smaller than that of the Hudson Valley, Finger Lakes and WNY regions. In 2023, Rensselaer County had the state’s fastest-growing manufacturing real GDP at 10.5 percent. Both Curia Global and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals have drug manufacturing operations. Greene County, where Haleon has a toothpaste production facility, had the third fastest-growing manufacturing real GDP at 5.9 percent; and Schenectady County had the sixth at 4.0 percent.

Pasta manufacturer Via Ravioli in Coxsackie

Other sectors in which Capital Region counties ranked high in New York for productivity growth included the following:

Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting

• 2^nd Schenectady (601.8 percent)
• 8^th Greene (36.6 percent)

Retail trade

• 1^st Schenectady (23.6 percent)
• 8^th Albany (11.9 percent)

Information

• 7^th Warren (17.2 percent)

Finance and Insurance

• 3^rd Greene (9.0 percent)
• 5^th Columbia (7.5 percent)

Professional, scientific, and technical services

• 1^st Rensselaer (14.2 percent)
• 4^th Schenectady (12.2 percent)

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

• 7^th Washington (9.6 percent)
• 8^th Greene (9.1 percent)

Government and government enterprises

• 1^st Albany (6.2 percent)

CEG INITIATIVES

As a New York State Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) center, CEG Manufacturing Solutions helps Capital Region manufacturers increase their productivity by providing a menu of technical support services, such as Lean Enterprise Training, ISO Certification Assistance, Technology-Driven Market Intelligence, workforce development, and CoreValue benchmarking assessments.

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