The Counties to Where Capital Region Workers Are Increasingly Commuting

Commuter flows from Washington County to Saratoga County have surged over the past five years, according to a Center for Economic Growth (CEG) analysis of new U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey estimates.

Between 2016 and 2020, an average 4,687 Washington County residents commuted to Saratoga County for work – an increase of 1,419 from the previous five-year period. That was the largest increase in inter-county commuters for not only Saratoga County but also the entire eight-county Capital Region. The region’s second largest commuting flow increase was Albany-Rensselaer (995), followed by Warren-Saratoga (734) and Greene-Albany (632).

The commuter flows with the largest average declines in the region between the 2011-2015 and 2016-2020 periods were Saratoga-Albany (-2,182), Saratoga-Schenectady (-1,338), Schenectady-Albany (-1,268) and Warren-Washington (-840).

The region’s largest inter-county commuting flow was Rensselaer-Albany (31,642), followed by Schenectady-Albany (22,579) and Saratoga-Albany (22,074).

Even with the growth in commuting trends, the eight-county region’s average travel time to work between 2017 and 2021 was 23.3 minutes, unchanged from the previous five-year period. That means the region’s average commuting time is 30 percent shorter than the statewide average and 113 percent below the national average, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Census Business Builder tool.

CEG INITIATIVES

As a regional economic development organization, CEG has worked to create a more integrated and dynamic eight-county Capital Region by leading industry and attraction efforts centered around the Capital Region’s core technology clusters. These clusters – clean energy, digital gaming, semiconductors, R&D and life sciences – are primarily centered in the region’s central counties and attract thousands of intra- and inter-county commuters. CEG’s industry and Talent attraction initiatives representing the Capital Region at industry conferences, such as SEMICON West and the CapNY  regional branding campaign.

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