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Welcome to Saranac Lake ...

The village of Saranac Lake is located in the Adirondacks.

Saranac Lake is primarily located in Essex County<1>. A portion of Saranac Lake extends into Franklin County.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Saranac Lake, you might get a feel for it by knowing that the earliest mention that we've found (so far) was in a book dated 1895.

A typical abbreviation for Saranac Lake: Saranac Lk.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Saranac Lake has a population of 5,219 people<2> (see below for details).

The community of Saranac Lake is 1,540 feet [469 m] above sea level.<3>.

Time Zone: Saranac Lake lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Codes for Saranac Lake: 518 & 838<4>

The ZIP code for Saranac Lake: 12983<5>

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Saranac Lake had an population of 5,219 people. This is a decrease of 3.46% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 3.53% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Saranac Lake had a population of 5,406 people (which is 13.73% of the total population of Essex County). This makes Saranac Lake the county's 5th most populous community.

The population of Saranac Lake represents 0.03% of the total population of New York (which has 19,378,102 people), making it the state's 445th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 5,406 people, the population of Saranac Lake increased 7.24% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 5,041 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Saranac Lake.

Communities Also Named Saranac Lake ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are two New York communities named Saranac Lake: This one is located in Essex County and the other is located in Franklin County.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Saranac Lake.

Communities near Saranac Lake ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Saranac Lake.

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Saranac Lake. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Saranac Lake.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Saranac Lake. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Saranac Lake.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Saranac Lake. See our Newspapers Page for Saranac Lake.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Saranac Lake ...

Looking for more information about Saranac Lake? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Saranac Lake, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Saranac Lake.

Adding Saranac Lake to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Saranac Lake in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Saranac Lake was in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Saranac Lake.

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Saranac Lake. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Essex County: www.co.essex.ny.us/

The official website for State of New York: https://www.ny.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of New York's counties, including Essex, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Saranac Lake.
<3>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Saranac Lake - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<4>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 518 code has been Overlayed with the 838 area code. New phone numbers in the Saranac Lake area will be assigned with one of these codes: 518 or 838. As a result, placing a call in the Saranac Lake area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<5>ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a village (such as Saranac Lake). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Saranac Lake or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).
<6>If we found a location and have questions about the accuracy of our information, we will simply say that the marker is 'in the vicinity'. We are not confident about the location and the position of our marker is only a rough guide. If we have too many doubts about the location, we will not include it in our database.
<7>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<8>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<9>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025