Jefferson County, New York, a core county of the Watertown-Fort Drum, NY market, holds $2.1B in deposits across 8 insured institutions and 30 branches. Watertown Savings Bank is the largest deposit holder at 36.5% share. The top three institutions hold 77.1% of deposits, which places the county in the concentrated band. Deposits have grown 8.8% since 2020 while the branch count fell by 5. It produces $6.4B of output, ranking #502 of the 1,523 counties within a CSA or MSA by economic output.
Deposit trend
Branches: 35 in 2020 to 30 in 2025. Institutions: 11 to 8. Top-three share: 75.7% to 77.1%.
Leading institutions by deposits
| Institution | Deposits | Share | 5‑yr |
|---|---|---|---|
| Watertown Savings Bank | $760M | 36.5% | +12% |
| Community Bank, National Association | $607M | 29.1% | +19% |
| Carthage Savings and Loan, National Association | $239M | 11.5% | +10% |
| KeyBank National Association | $236M | 11.3% | -10% |
| WSB Municipal Bank | $105M | 5.0% | -8% |
| Gouverneur Savings and Loan Association | $96M | 4.6% | +342% |
| GS&L Municipal Bank | $23M | 1.1% | no 2020 presence |
| The Upstate National Bank | $17M | 0.8% | +32% |
The 8 insured institutions with a branch presence in this county, as of June 30, 2025. Five-year change compares the same institution’s county deposits in 2020 and 2025. Institutions are tracked by FDIC certificate number, and where an institution acquired another bank, the acquired bank’s prior deposits are folded into the baseline so the change reflects the combined, continuing franchise rather than reading as new. Even so, a large gain can reflect acquisition rather than competitive growth; “no 2020 presence” means neither the institution nor a bank it later absorbed reported deposits in this county that year.
Part of the Watertown-Fort Drum market
Jefferson County is the only county in the Watertown-Fort Drum, NY market, a Metropolitan Statistical Area (ranked #251 of 293 U.S. markets by economic output). It produces 100.0% of the market’s output and holds 100.0% of its deposits.
| Measure | Jefferson County | Share of Watertown-Fort Drum market |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 GDP | $6.4B | 100.0% |
| Deposits | $2.1B | 100.0% |
| Population | 111,540 | 100.0% |
See the Watertown-Fort Drum market in Market Intelligence →
Recruiting in Jefferson County
Deposits are held closely by the largest banks, which often means the bankers worth recruiting are inside a small number of institutions. Who holds the deposits, and how contested the market is, shapes both the runway for growth and the competition you would be recruiting against. We recruit commercial relationship managers, banking teams, and market leaders for banks building in markets like Jefferson County, on a retained basis.
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