By CRAIG FREILICH

More than a third of the people who work in St. Lawrence County feel they should be in a better job, according to a new survey.

The survey by the Center for Community Studies at Jefferson Community College in Watertown also found substantial numbers of local residents travel outside the county for healthcare services and 83 percent in St. Lawrence County have access to high-speed internet.

Those are some of the highlights revealed in the survey of 1,305 people in St. Lawrence, Jefferson and Lewis counties conducted in April. St. Lawrence County was included in the survey for the first time this year.

The survey found that 54 percent of those in St. Lawrence County who were interviewed had jobs, while 38 percent of those with jobs said they felt under-employed in their current jobs. That is about on par with people working in Jefferson County (39 percent) and Lewis County (36 percent).

In addition to those working in St. Lawrence County, 23 percent told interviewers they were retired.

Nine percent of St. Lawrence County adults in the survey said they own a business, and 9 percent said they would like to own a business.

Among business owners, 26 percent employ only themselves and 21 percent employ six or more people. Three-quarters of employers said they had not expanded in the last year, 9 percent said they had hired one additional worker, and 10 percent had hired two more people.

One-quarter of business owners also told surveyors that, in order for them to be able to hire two or three more people in the next two years, they would need stronger sales, 15 percent said lower business taxes, and another quarter said they don’t want to expand.

As for household income in St. Lawrence County, 22 percent report less than $25,000 annually, 30 percent between $25,001 and $50,000, 21 percent between $50,001 and $75,000, and 27 percent above $75,000.

As for education, the survey said 41 percent of those in St. Lawrence County have a high school education or less, 8 percent had some technical education, 18 percent have taken college courses but not earned a degree, 13 percent reached have an associate’s degree, 12 percent a bachelor’s degree, and 9 percent a graduate degree.

Almost two-thirds of St. Lawrence County respondents said they travel outside of the county for health services “at least rarely,” the survey said.

Of the 83 percent with home access to broadband internet, 24 percent said service has improved in the last three years, and 19 percent said it got worse.

The survey was conducted by JCC with assistance from the Development Authority of the North Country and the Industrial Development Agencies in the three counties.

This is their second bi-annual survey and the first to include St. Lawrence County.

The report is online at http://64.150.165.106/Documents/2ndBiennialRETS_FinalReport10_1_15.pdf