Living in Saranac Lake

In Saranac Lake, unemployment is 3% (2024).

Saranac Lake numbered 4,856 residents at the end of 2024. Saranac Lake had an unemployment rate of 3% at the end of 2024. Saranac Lake's foreign population totalled 106 at the end of 2024.

Last checked 2026-10-0916 sources

Population4,856people31 Dec 2024Official source · U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program

Median gross salary3,219EUR/month31 Dec 2020Official source · 2024 American Community Survey 5-year detailed tables

Median rent788.1EUR/month31 Dec 2020Official source · ACS 2020-2024 5-year table-based Summary File, table B25064 (Median Gross Rent), place records

Unemployment rate3%country median 4.6% — 34% belowOfficial source · Census Reporter (underlying U.S. Census ACS)

Recorded crime289.8incidents per 100,000country median 1,586 — 82% belowOfficial source · Crime in the United States 2025, Table 8: Offenses Known to Law Enforcement by State by City

PM2.5, annual mean3.74µg/m³31 Dec 2024Nearest stationOfficial source · U.S. EPA Air Quality System / AirData

Lower unemployment than 80% of American cities that publish it, less recorded crime than 97% of American cities that publish it and cleaner air than any other American city that publishes it.

Which United States-wide rules apply when you move to Saranac Lake?

National rules stay on the country page instead of being relabelled as city data.

Visa and entry rulesPassport-specific entry and national residence context.BenefitsCountry-wide eligibility and official application routes.Taxes in United StatesNational rates and thresholds that apply in Saranac Lake.Healthcare eligibilityCountry-wide insurance and residence conditions.

Housing and cost

What recurs every month2 published recurring costs, € per month

€ / month

Internet, 60 Mbps€60

Mobile plan, 10 GB€22

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Internet, 60 Mbps unlimited	60.38 EUR/month	30 Sept 2026	Verizon 300 Mbps home internet¹⁵Official · national market
Mobile plan, 10 GB	21.57 EUR/month	30 Sept 2026	Visible unlimited mobile plan¹⁶Official · national market
Average monthly rent (whole dwelling)	797.3 EUR/month	31 Dec 2020	ACS 2020-2024 5-year table-based Summary File, tables B25065 (Aggregate Gross Rent) and B25063 (Gross Rent, units with cash rent)³Official
Median monthly rent	788.1 EUR/month	31 Dec 2020	ACS 2020-2024 5-year table-based Summary File, table B25064 (Median Gross Rent), place records²Official
Recorded property crimes	11 offenses/year	31 Dec 2025	FBI CIUS Table 8 by City 2025 (CDE offenses-known-to-le-2025.zip)⁶Official

Is Saranac Lake a good place to live?

There is no universal answer. The profile scores below show who the available published evidence may suit; they are a decision aid, not a personal recommendation.

Try your profile

Remote worker61%strong on work, weak on legal route · range 52–70%

Skilled employee68%strong on work, weak on education · range 59–77%

Student49%strong on safety, weak on education · range 39–59%

Family76%strong on family, weak on education · range 67–85%

Retirement65%strong on safety, weak on admin · range 54–76%

Worked out from these numbers

How international is the population?

2.2% of residents hold a foreign nationality — 106 of 4,856 people. This counts nationality, not place of birth, so long-settled residents who naturalised are not in it.

Work and income

Unemployment across cities in United StatesUnemployment in Saranac Lake is 3.0%. Of 2,153 cities with data, 1,250 have unemployment of 0 to under 5%.

1,250

778

0–55–1010–1515–2020–2525–30

Saranac Lake 3.0%

Unemployment rate (%)

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Median gross salary	3,219 EUR/month	31 Dec 2020	2024 American Community Survey 5-year detailed tables¹Official
Unemployment rate	3 %country median 4.6%	31 Dec 2024	Census Reporter (underlying U.S. Census ACS)⁵Official

What does a salary buy in Saranac Lake?

Take-home pay after tax, minus rent and the everyday bills this city publishes. Each line names its source.

Left over each month€1,666of €2,545 take-home

Rent
Internet
Mobile
Left over

Line-by-line breakdown and sources

Each month	€
Take-home payOECD Taxing Wages 2025, single, no children. Includes central and local income tax and employee social contributions; euro amounts at the ECB average for 2026-08.	€2,545
Rentaverage rent of a whole dwelling · official · ACS 2020-2024 5-year table-based Summary File, tables B25065 (Aggregate Gross Rent) and B25063 (Gross Rent, units with cash rent) · 2020-12-31	− €797
Internet€60 · official · Verizon 300 Mbps home internet · 2026-09-30	− €60
Mobile plan€22 · official · Visible unlimited mobile plan · 2026-09-30	− €22
Other everyday billsnot published for this city: public transport pass, utilities	—
Left overbefore the bills this city does not publish	€1,666

Take-home pay for other salaries and households Compare with another city Check a job offer in Saranac Lake Salary needed to live in Saranac Lake

Public employment service

No exact public employment office is currently linked to Saranac Lake. The verified national service may still offer online registration, job search or an official office finder.

Country-level information

American Job Centers — Public employment service

U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration

Job Search

Open official service

Open the United States service overview

Country-level service information is not treated as proof of a physical office in Saranac Lake. Sources checked through 10 Aug 2026.

Healthcare

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Physicians per 100,000 residents	135.9 per 100,000	31 Dec 2023	Area Health Resources Files (AHRF), County 2024-2025 release⁴Official · county

Yes — migrants can receive medical care in Saranac Lake when the national insurance or residence conditions are met.

Healthcare access follows the country-wide insurance rules; local capacity facts remain city data and are not used as proof of eligibility.

Open the official coverage guide

Country rule verified 2026-08-03.

Safety

Recorded crime across major citiesSaranac Lake highlighted among comparable cities

recorded incidents per 100k residents

Philadelphia5,457

Houston5,442

San Antonio5,218

Chicago4,012

Dallas4,010

Austin3,709

Fort Worth3,158

Phoenix3,125

New York City3,039

Los Angeles2,212

San Diego2,082

Saranac Lake290

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Recorded incidents per 100,000 residents	289.8 incidents per 100,000country median 1,586	31 Dec 2025	Crime in the United States 2025, Table 8: Offenses Known to Law Enforcement by State by City⁶Official
Recorded violent crimes	3 offenses/year	31 Dec 2025	FBI CIUS Table 8 by City 2025 (CDE offenses-known-to-le-2025.zip)⁶Official

Mobility and administration

Saranac Lake's nearest airport was SLK, 9 km away and offered 1 direct destinations.

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Direct destinations from the nearest major airport	1 count	3 Aug 2026	OpenFlights⁹Official
Distance to the nearest major airport	9 km	3 Aug 2026	OurAirports¹⁰Official
Nearest major airport (IATA code)	SLK	3 Aug 2026	OurAirports¹⁰Official

Language courses and integration

No exact city-level course record is currently published for Saranac Lake. These verified national programmes may still apply; use the official programme page to check local availability.

Country-level information

Adult Education and English Language Acquisition (AEFLA) — State Language Course

U.S. Department of Education

For adult learners, adult English-language learners.

EnglishIn Person, Online, HybridCost varies

Open official information

USCIS English and citizenship class finder — Civic Orientation

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

For immigrants, future citizens.

EnglishIn Person, OnlineCost varies

Open official information

Open the full United States section

National programme information is not treated as proof of a course location in Saranac Lake.

Find courses near Saranac Lake

Climate and air quality

Annual PM2.5 in the air was 3.7 µg/m³ at the end of 2024. Monthly mean temperature moved from −9.8°C in January to 17.6°C in July.

Temperature through the yearAverage daytime high and night-time low, °C

0°

-5°-15°

-4°-15°

1°-10°

9°-3°

16°4°

21°9°

24°12°

22°11°

19°7°

11°2°

4°-3°

-3°-10°

JFMAMJJASOND

Night-time low to daytime high

Rainfall through the yearAverage monthly precipitation, mm

111

103

JFMAMJJASOND

Air quality vs health guidelinesAnnual means against WHO 2021 guidelines and EU legal limits

Within WHO 2021 guidelineAbove WHO, within EU limitAbove EU legal limitCity annual mean · µg/m³

PM2.53.7WHO 5 · EU 25

City values from the published air-quality observations. WHO 2021 guidelines and EU limit values are published constants.

PM2.5 across cities in United StatesAnnual PM2.5 in Saranac Lake is 3.7 µg/m³. Of 968 cities with data, 261 have annual PM2.5 of 6 to under 7 µg/m³.

135

261

252

124

1–22–33–44–55–66–77–88–99–1010–1111–1212–1313–1414–1515–16

Saranac Lake 3.7

Annual PM2.5 (µg/m³)

Metric	Value	Period	Source
PM2.5 — annual mean	3.74 µg/m³	31 Dec 2024	U.S. EPA Air Quality System / AirData¹⁴Official · nearest-station reading
Average daytime high by month	Jan -4.83 · Feb -3.61 · Mar 1.22 · Apr 8.72 · May 16.11 · Jun 20.89 · Jul 23.56 · Aug 22.44 · Sep 18.61 · Oct 11.22 · Nov 4.33 · Dec -2.56 °C	31 Dec 1991	NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information⁷Official · nearest-station reading
Average night-time low by month	Jan -14.83 · Feb -14.94 · Mar -9.83 · Apr -2.56 · May 4.11 · Jun 9.5 · Jul 11.67 · Aug 10.72 · Sep 6.83 · Oct 2.06 · Nov -3.28 · Dec -9.67 °C	31 Dec 1991	NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information⁷Official · nearest-station reading
Average temperature by month	Jan -9.83 · Feb -9.28 · Mar -4.28 · Apr 3.11 · May 10.11 · Jun 15.22 · Jul 17.61 · Aug 16.61 · Sep 12.72 · Oct 6.61 · Nov 0.5 · Dec -6.11 °C	31 Dec 1991	NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information⁷Official · nearest-station reading
Average precipitation by month	Jan 49.28 · Feb 38.1 · Mar 51.82 · Apr 78.49 · May 93.98 · Jun 110.7 · Jul 103.1 · Aug 90.42 · Sep 88.14 · Oct 97.79 · Nov 72.14 · Dec 55.88 mm	31 Dec 1991	NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information⁸Official · nearest-station reading
PM2.5, highest monitored reading	16.7 µg/m³	31 Dec 2024	US EPA Air Quality System (AQS)¹⁴Official · nearest-station reading
PM2.5, annual mean	3.74 µg/m³	31 Dec 2024	US EPA Air Quality System (AQS)¹⁴Official · nearest-station reading

Similar climate. In United States: Green Bay ±3.2 °C. Elsewhere: Gatineau (Canada) ±2.4 °C, Barrie (Canada) ±2.5 °C, Saguenay (Canada) ±1.8 °C, Jönköping (Sweden) ±3.1 °C, Jyväskylä (Finland) ±1.7 °C. Twenty closest, compared month by month

Monthly highs and lows against the 1991–2020 station normals of the nearest station; ± is the average monthly difference.

Population and city profile

Saranac Lake spanned 7.5 km² at the end of 2025. Population density was 644.1 people per km² at the end of 2024.

Who lives hereResidents by nationality, % of population

By nationality

National passport97.8%

Calculated from the population and foreign-resident facts on this page.

Metric	Value	Period	Source
City area	7.54 km²	31 Dec 2025	U.S. Census Bureau (TIGERweb ArcGIS REST service)¹¹Official
Foreign-resident share	2.13 %	31 Dec 2024	Census Reporter (underlying U.S. Census ACS)⁵Official
Foreign residents	106 people	31 Dec 2024	Census Reporter (underlying U.S. Census ACS)⁵Official
Population density	644.1 people/km²	31 Dec 2024	U.S. Census Bureau (Population Estimates Program)¹³Official
Population	4,856 people	31 Dec 2024	U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program¹³Official

Alternatives for people set on Saranac Lake

Three places for the three reasons people leave a city on the shortlist: stay in the region, stay in the country, or keep the budget and change the country. A percentage appears only where both cities publish that metric from the same source, period and grain. Distances are straight lines — travel times are not collected yet.

North Bethesda as a Saranac Lake alternative in the same country

A move, not a commute, at 638 km, better on 2 of 4 metrics measured the same way, worse on 2. Recorded crime, per 100k cannot be compared like for like.

Foreign residents: 34.1% North Bethesda vs 2.1% Saranac Lake+1498%
Median gross pay, city: €6,119 North Bethesda vs €3,219 Saranac Lake+90%
Annual PM2.5: 5.9 µg/m³ North Bethesda vs 3.7 µg/m³ Saranac Lake+57%
Unemployment: 3.6% North Bethesda vs 3.0% Saranac Lake+21%
Recorded crime, per 100k: 3,458 North Bethesda vs 290 Saranac Lakeno percentage

Full comparison More about North Bethesda

Alternative cities in United States

Other cities in United States to compare with Saranac Lake, nearest in population first.

All United States cities

Hawkinsville4,854 residents Lillington4,848 residents Springtown4,843 residents Mount Pleasant4,871 residents Canton4,841 residents West Sayville4,872 residents

How does Saranac Lake compare?

Pick a city. The answer appears here and the address bar keeps it, so the comparison can be shared; the page stays Saranac Lake's.

Open the full comparison

Put Saranac Lake's key facts on your site — a card with this page's figures and a link back, free under CC BY 4.0.

Common questions

Answered from the published values on this page, each with its source and date.

What is the unemployment rate in Saranac Lake?

The unemployment rate is 3 %. Source: Census Reporter (underlying U.S. Census ACS).

Is the air quality good in Saranac Lake?

The annual PM2.5 mean is 3.74 µg/m³. The WHO 2021 guideline is 5 µg/m³ and the EU limit value is 25 µg/m³, so this reading is within the WHO guideline. Source: U.S. EPA Air Quality System / AirData.

How safe is Saranac Lake?

Police recorded 289.8 incidents per 100,000. This counts all offences, so it is not comparable with a violent-crime-only rate from another source. Source: Crime in the United States 2025, Table 8: Offenses Known to Law Enforcement by State by City.

How many people live in Saranac Lake?

The published population is 4,856 people. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program.

How many foreign residents live in Saranac Lake?

106 residents hold a foreign nationality. Source: Census Reporter (underlying U.S. Census ACS).

Is Saranac Lake a good place to live?

Saranac Lake may suit different people for different reasons. The page's profile scores compare published cost, work, housing, safety, healthcare and other available factors; they are a decision aid, not a universal recommendation.

Cite this page

Open a format to select or copy this ImmigrationDB compilation citation. The native disclosure and text fallback work without JavaScript.

APA citation

ImmigrationDB. (2026, October 16). Saranac Lake, United States: population, rent, salary, jobs [ImmigrationDB compilation; version f875cef77241938d6afbbe98bd3a96d2]. ImmigrationDB. https://immigrationdb.com/cities/us/saranac-lake/ Retrieved 2026-10-16. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

BibTeX citation

@misc{immigrationdb_immigrationdb_saranac-lake-united-states-population-rent-salary-jobs_0922a829eabb,
  author = {ImmigrationDB},
  title = {Saranac Lake, United States: population, rent, salary, jobs},
  publisher = {ImmigrationDB},
  year = {2026},
  date = {2026-10-16},
  version = {f875cef77241938d6afbbe98bd3a96d2},
  url = {https://immigrationdb.com/cities/us/saranac-lake/},
  note = {Retrieved 2026-10-16. ImmigrationDB compilation. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/},
}

Markdown citation

[Saranac Lake, United States: population, rent, salary, jobs](https://immigrationdb.com/cities/us/saranac-lake/) — ImmigrationDB; ImmigrationDB; version f875cef77241938d6afbbe98bd3a96d2; retrieved 2026-10-16; built 2026-10-16.

This citation identifies the ImmigrationDB compilation/page. Underlying source publishers and datasets retain their own terms; inspect the Sources section and cite those records separately. View the underlying source records.

Sources

JSON Markdown

2024 American Community Survey 5-year detailed tables api.census.gov · checked 2026-10-04
ACS 2020-2024 5-year table-based Summary File, table B25064 (Median Gross Rent), place records www2.census.gov · checked 2026-09-18
ACS 2020-2024 5-year table-based Summary File, tables B25065 (Aggregate Gross Rent) and B25063 (Gross Rent, units with cash rent) www2.census.gov · checked 2026-09-19
Area Health Resources Files (AHRF), County 2024-2025 release data.hrsa.gov · checked 2026-10-04
Census Reporter (underlying U.S. Census ACS) api.censusreporter.org · checked 2026-08-03
FBI CIUS Table 8 by City 2025 (CDE offenses-known-to-le-2025.zip) cde.ucr.cjis.gov · checked 2026-09-05
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information ncei.noaa.gov · checked 2026-08-05
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information ncei.noaa.gov · checked 2026-08-05
OpenFlights raw.githubusercontent.com · checked 2026-08-03
OurAirports davidmegginson.github.io · checked 2026-08-03

Show 6 more sources

U.S. Census Bureau (TIGERweb ArcGIS REST service) tigerweb.geo.census.gov · checked 2026-08-03
U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey api.census.gov · checked 2026-08-07
U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program www2.census.gov · checked 2026-08-05
U.S. EPA Air Quality System / AirData aqs.epa.gov · checked 2026-08-05
Verizon 300 Mbps home internet verizon.com · checked 2026-09-15
Visible unlimited mobile plan visible.com · checked 2026-09-15

Spotted a number that looks wrong? Every value here carries its source and date — tell us what you found and we will re-check it against the source.