Work & commute · Brookhaven

Work & commute in Brookhaven, NY

About one in 3 of Brookhaven’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are New York (17%), Islip (15%) and Smithtown (6%). Half commute less than 14 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

32%

72,380 of 223,777 working residents

Typical commute

14 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

32 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

10%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 151,397 Brookhaven residents head out of town to work, 72,380 work right here, and 59,379 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Brookhaven.

151,397live here, work elsewhere

72,380live and work here

59,379work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Brookhaven goes to work

Brookhaven (in town)right here

32%72,380

New York53 mi away

17%37,014

Islip15.8 mi away

15%33,656

Smithtown12.1 mi away

6%14,331

Huntington21.9 mi away

4%8,633

Hempstead37.3 mi away

4%7,957

Babylon23.9 mi away

3%7,264

Oyster Bay29.1 mi away

3%6,758

Riverhead15.1 mi away

3%5,869

Southampton26.1 mi away

2%5,361

Everywhere elseother towns and states

11%24,554

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Brookhaven commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

38%

27%

21%

15%

38%Under 10 mi

27%10–24 mi

21%25–50 mi

15%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Brookhaven is a commuter town

0.59jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.59 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Brookhaven are

131,759 jobs are based in Brookhaven. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Brookhaven’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Brookhaven

131,759 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)12%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month57%

Jobs Brookhaven residents hold

223,777 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)68%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month67%

−2%

Jobs based in Brookhaven, 2013 → 2023: 134,680 → 131,759. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.