Courtesy Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce
By Todd Shimkus, President/CEO of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce
Don’t worry, I’m one of you. I love numbers, seeing data, trends, and trying to analyze what’s really going on in our economy. Mostly, I’m interested in our local economy and there’s no doubt Saratoga County’s economy has been on a roll. The pandemic hurt us and challenged us, but our resilience can be seen everywhere.
So here we go with some numbers to back this up…
In 2025, the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce delivered 811,429 emails to a wide range of contacts in our database of members and consumers. Our emails were opened 376,633 times which means we had an open rate of 46%. This was up 4% versus our 2024 open rate and it is 11% higher than the industry average.
One of the most popular emails is our monthly Saratoga Insider’s Report, sponsored by Saratoga Financial Services. This report provides data, and charts regarding Saratoga County’s sales tax collections, labor force, home sales, hotel revenue per available room, and a local stock market watch.
From 2022 to 2025, median home sales prices in Saratoga County went up $75,000 in total from January through November of each year, representing a 19.2% increase over this time. During this same three-year time span, Saratoga County’s lodging properties saw Revenue Per Available Room jump 18%, and sales tax collections increased 12.2%. In each of these three cases, there was an increase in home sale prices, RevPAR, and tax collections each year, so the trend line is up on all accounts.
Occasionally because again I’m a left brainer and so are the subscribers to this email, we include other local data just for fun. One month, we documented how the price of coffee beans went up 58% in 2025 versus 2024, and one month we created charts to show how the price of health insurance premiums in the small business market have skyrocketed, especially in the last three years. We also shared charts that showed how much more money was spent over the last three years buying horses at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale and cars as the Saratoga Auto Museum Auction.
In January of 2026, we included charts documenting the results of our Love Our Locals 2025 campaign which showed how both the number of receipts and the total value of them increased in the last four years. This award winning promotion incentives local people to spend money at locally owned businesses across Saratoga County in November and December. From 2024 to 2025, the number of receipts we received increased by nearly 1,500, and the amount spent purchasing goods and services from local businesses was up $100,000, reaching a record $440,726 in 2025.
My take is that our Love Our Locals success in 2025 is a sign of consumer confidence as we head into 2026. Each receipt submitted for at least $20.25 spent at a local establishment was a vote of confidence. Sure those who submitted a receipt was proud to show their support for locals and they wanted to win a weekly gift card, but the numbers would have declined or remained flat without a sense that things are good here economically.
One final number to share – – the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce took part in 92 ribbon cutting and ground breakings in 2025. That’s a big number too and one that also must be a sign of confidence in our future as each is a celebration of a dream come true and a new investment in our economy.
That’s why if you want my outlook on where our local economy is headed in 2026, all signs that I see and the data we share points to continued success.