Advertising services for Syracuse, NY

The households

This is the Syracuse metropolitan area in New York.

The median household in Syracuse, NY earns $75,492 a year, 6 percent below the national figure (the US median is $80,734). Owner-occupied homes carry a median value of $187,700, 44 percent below the national figure; the national comparison point is $332,700. For a business that sells to homeowners, that combination sets the ceiling on what a job is worth.

35.1% of adults finished a four-year degree or more (about the same as the US share). 68.4% of homes are lived in by their owners, 3 points above the US share. Syracuse, NY has a median age of 40.1 (1.2 years above the national median). A labor force of 328,587 carries an unemployment rate of 5.4%, about the same as the US share.

Syracuse, NY versus New York: income 12 percent lower than the New York figure, home values 56 percent lower than the New York figure, business density 19 percent thinner than the New York figure.

Competition, counted

Start with the count: 14,587 establishments with payroll. Set against the population that is 22.2 per 1,000 residents, 11 percent below the national figure, against 25 nationally. The home-services trades that most often advertise locally number 723 establishments, a 5% share, about the same as the US share. The most numerous category on this page is restaurants at 1,152.

Reading the index: 1.00 matches the national mix, 1.50 means half again as common here, 0.50 half as common.

Against the US mix, general automotive repair, road and paving contractors, grocery stores and landscaping services are over-represented. General automotive repair stand out with 239 locations, 1.6 times what the national mix would predict. Less common here than nationally: concrete contractors, electrical contractors, general freight trucking and self-storage operators. With 26 locations, concrete contractors sit at about 64% of the national share. Plumbing and HVAC contractors, roofing contractors and specialty trade contractors track the US share closely.

Counted by establishments, the order is restaurants (1,152), physicians' offices (334), legal services (330). Adjusted for population, restaurants are the thickest on the ground (175.5 per 100,000), with physicians' offices and legal services next. Grouped, automotive businesses hold 1.5 times the share they hold nationally, while medical and dental practices sit at about 84% of.

Reading the numbers as an advertiser

general automotive repair, road and paving contractors and grocery stores face a full field here. Each new review, each answered call and each page that matches a specific search is a small edge, and the edges add up. A business in concrete contractors, electrical contractors and general freight trucking enters a lightly contested auction. That is the time to build organic visibility and a review base before the category fills in. A median age 1.2 years above the national median means a larger share of customers who still start with a Google search and read reviews before calling, so the search-plus-reviews stack earns its keep. Homeownership of 68.4% is above the national share; more of the households that search for home services are also the ones that decide and pay.