Groundwork

Clothing and laundry · Metro area · New York

Clothing and shoe stores in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY metro area

The clothing and shoe stores in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY metro area, the household spending behind them and how the market ranks against other metro areas.

Groundwork market score · out of 100

Score 75 out of 100: High

Ranked #36 of 387 scored metro areas
#2 of 13 scored metro areas based in New York

Listings
465
232 chain locations (50%)
Official establishments
253
−17.9% since 2019
Household spending a year
$911.4M
On clothing, shoes and related services · $2,379 a household
Spending per listing
$2M
54% above the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
12.1
25% below the U.S.
Population, 2025
915,835
+1.9% since 2020

See the clothing and shoe stores around any address in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy metro area

The site report maps the clothing and shoe stores on map listings near the address, by name and distance, and sizes the households and spending around it. Or open the report at the center of the Albany-Schenectady-Troy metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

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Survey estimates 2020–2024 · population estimates 2025 · official business counts 2023 · map listings September 2026 · Data credits · How we measure

What this means

The Albany-Schenectady-Troy metro area scores 75 (high) on the Groundwork market score for clothing and shoe stores, ranking #36 of 387 scored metro areas and #2 of 13 scored metro areas based in New York. That puts it in the top 10% of metro areas for clothing and shoe stores.

Map listings as of September 2026 show 465 clothing and shoe stores in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy metro area. Of those, 232 are chain locations, or 50%, against 44% across the U.S. Per 10,000 households, that is 12.1, 25% below the U.S. rate of 16.2.

At $2,379 per household (16% above the U.S. average), households in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy metro area spend about $911.4M a year on clothing, shoes and related services. That is about $2M of household spending for each store on map listings, 54% above the U.S. figure of $1.3M. That spending covers all clothing, shoes and related services, which clothing and shoe stores share with other businesses in the trade.

The official count of businesses with payroll classed as clothing and shoe stores in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy metro area was 253 in 2023, down 17.9% from 2019. That is one for every 1,514 households, against one for every 1,273 across the U.S. Since fiscal 2022, 9 SBA-backed loans worth $939K have gone to businesses classed as clothing and shoe stores in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy metro area. Between 2020 and 2025, the population of the Albany-Schenectady-Troy metro area grew 1.9%, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%).

How the Albany-Schenectady-Troy metro area compares

The same measures for New York and the whole U.S. Spending per listing divides a year of household spending on all clothing, shoes and related services by the clothing and shoe stores counted, so it measures the demand for each competitor, not any business’s revenue. Households per establishment does the same with the official count.

Clothing and shoe stores in Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY metro area compared with New York and the U.S.
MeasureAlbany-Schenectady-Troy metro areaNew YorkU.S.
Listings per 10k households12.119.316.2
Spending per listing$2M$1.3M$1.3M
Households per official establishment1,5141,0391,273
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023−17.9%−16.7%−12.2%
Population growth, 2020–2025+1.9%−0.6%+3.1%
Spending per household on clothing, shoes and related services$2,379$2,448$2,055
Median household income$88,074$85,974$80,734
Groundwork market score7539

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
253−17.9% over the period
Employees, 2023
3,502
Annual payroll, 2023
$69M
One-person businesses, 2023
417Businesses with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
465232 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
717The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
9
Amount
$939K

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as clothing and shoe stores in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy metro area, through June 2026, placed by the borrower’s ZIP code. Official establishments are businesses with payroll; the official counts leave out places with fewer than 3.

Population and households in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy metro area

Population, 2025 estimate
915,835+1.9% since 2020
Households
383,063
Median age
41.7
Homes lived in by their owners
64%
Vehicles per household
1.6
Land area
2,812 sq. mi.
People per square mile
322
Median household income
$88,074+23.6% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$114,274
Median home value
$285,900
Jobs located here
460,466
Daytime population
937,878Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy metro area?

These figures cover the whole metro area. A site report draws rings around one address and counts what’s inside them: households, spending, jobs, and the clothing and shoe stores on map listings by name and distance.

Or open the report at the center of the Albany-Schenectady-Troy metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

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Clothing and shoe stores across New York

Every New York market ranked →

The highest-scoring metro areas in New York for clothing and shoe stores, numbered among those based in New York, with the Albany-Schenectady-Troy metro area marked.

Top metro areas in New York

Metro areas in New York ranked for clothing and shoe stores by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Ithaca, NY774410.2$2.2M−1.4%#25 of 387
2Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY7546512.1$2M+1.9%#36 of 387
3Kingston, NY7511515.5$1.5M+1.1%#40 of 387
4Utica-Rome, NY7113210.9$1.9M−2.0%#52 of 387
5Syracuse, NY6932812.1$1.8M−1.3%#62 of 387
6Binghamton, NY6911911.6$1.8M−1.3%#63 of 387
7Rochester, NY6659413.3$1.7M−0.7%#83 of 387
8Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY6069913.9$1.6M−0.8%#127 of 387
9Watertown-Fort Drum, NY546513.7$1.5M−3.9%#178 of 387
10Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY4752920.8$1.2M+3.0%#222 of 387

Other business types in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy metro area

Each with its Groundwork market score here, out of 100, where it has one.

Questions

How many clothing and shoe stores are in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY metro area?

There are 465 clothing and shoe stores on map listings in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy metro area as of September 2026. 232 of them (50%) are chain locations. The listings count clothing, shoe and accessory stores and boutiques. Official counts show 253 businesses with payroll classed as clothing and shoe stores in 2023, down 17.9% from 2019. Official counts also show 417 one-person businesses without payroll.

How much do households in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY metro area spend on clothing, shoes and related services?

About $911.4M a year, or $2,379 per household. That is 16% above the U.S. average (an index of 116, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 465 clothing and shoe stores on map listings, it comes to $2M per store. The spending figure covers all clothing, shoes and related services, not only clothing and shoe stores. It is estimated from the incomes of the 383,063 households in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy metro area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY metro area compare with the U.S. for clothing and shoe stores?

The Albany-Schenectady-Troy metro area has 12.1 clothing and shoe stores per 10,000 households, 25% below the U.S. rate of 16.2. Spending per store is $2M, 54% above the U.S. figure of $1.3M. At the national ratio of clothing and shoe stores to household spending, the Albany-Schenectady-Troy metro area would have about 717, against 465 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 1,514 households, against one for every 1,273 across the U.S. The official count fell 17.9% from 2019 to 2023, against −12.2% for the U.S.

How fast is the Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY metro area growing?

Population estimates put the Albany-Schenectady-Troy metro area at 915,835 people in 2025, up 1.9% since 2020, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 383,063 households. The median household income in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy metro area is $88,074 a year, 9% above the U.S. median of $80,734. That rose 23.6% from the 2015–2019 survey, before inflation.

What is the Groundwork market score?

The Groundwork market score runs from 0 to 100 and compares a market with others of its kind for one business type: states with states, metro areas with metro areas, small-town markets and counties with their own. It weighs household spending per competitor (35%), households per business with payroll (25%), population growth (20%) and spending power (20%), each ranked against those peers. A higher score means that, taken together, the market has more household spending and more households for each business already there, faster population growth and more spending per household than similar markets. It describes a market, not any one site or deal. The Albany-Schenectady-Troy metro area scores 75 for clothing and shoe stores (high), #36 of 387 scored metro areas.

How can I see the market around a specific site?

Run a Groundwork site report on an address in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy metro area. It maps the clothing and shoe stores on map listings near the site and sizes the households and spending within the distance you choose. New accounts get 10 actions over 3 days, no card.

How the score works · Top markets for clothing and shoe stores · All 56 business types in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy metro area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy metro area?

A site report maps the competitors on map listings near an address and sizes the households and spending around it.

The button opens the report at the center of the Albany-Schenectady-Troy metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.

Figures are estimates for research only. Not investment or real estate advice.