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Work & commute in Centereach · A commuter town

95% of Centereach’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Centereach for work: only 5% work in town. The top destinations are Brookhaven (28%), New York (18%) and Islip (16%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Work in town
5%
774 of 14,543 working residents
Typical commute
12 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
32 min
Less than NY (33 min)
Work from home
11%
Less than NY (15%)
Jobs based here
6,164
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Centereach?

Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · The commute map

28% of working residents work in Brookhaven

A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.

Lake GroveNew York: 2,577 residents work here (18%)Babylon: 525 residents work here (4%)Riverhead: 170 residents work here (1%)Hempstead: 570 residents work here (4%)North Hempstead: 365 residents work here (3%)Brookhaven: 4,127 residents work here (28%)Islip: 2,327 residents work here (16%)Smithtown: 1,349 residents work here (9%)Huntington: 679 residents work here (5%)SouthamptonOyster Bay: 528 residents work here (4%)TerryvilleFarmingvilleLake RonkonkomaSeldenHoltsvilleCentereachBrookhavenNew YorkIslipSmithtownHuntingtonHempsteadCentereach
1
Brookhaven6.4 mi away
28%4,127
2
New York47 mi away
18%2,577
3
Islip12.1 mi away
16%2,327
4
Smithtown6.1 mi away
9%1,349
5
Huntington15.4 mi away
5%679
6
Hempstead32 mi away
4%570
7
Oyster Bay22.9 mi away
4%528
8
Babylon19.9 mi away
4%525
9
North Hempstead31.5 mi away
3%365
10
Riverhead20.5 mi away
1%170
Everywhere elseother towns and states
9%1,326
The top trips

Where Centereach clocks in

Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.

Day and night

Centereach quiets down on a workday

On a workday 13,769 residents head out to work, 774 work right here, and 5,390 people come in from elsewhere.

13,769live here, work elsewhere
774live and work here
5,390work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night32,000
Workday23,000
32,000live here− 14,000head out to work+ 5,400come in to work= 23,000on a workday

About 23,000 people are in Centereach on a workday afternoon, 26% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.42jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

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

Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.

How far

Half of Centereach commutes less than 12 miles

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

10 mi25 mi50 mi55 miBrookhaven: 28% · 6.4 miNew York: 18% · 47 miIslip: 16% · 12.1 miSmithtown: 9% · 6.1 miHuntington: 5% · 15.4 miHempstead: 4% · 32 miOyster Bay: 4% · 22.9 miBabylon: 4% · 19.9 miNorth Hempstead: 3% · 31.5 miRiverhead: 1% · 20.5 miBrookhaven 28%New York 18%Islip 16%Smithtown 9%Huntington 5%Centereach
CentereachTop destinations (size = commuters)
46%Under 10 mi6,619 residents
21%10–24 mi3,105 residents
26%25–50 mi3,842 residents
7%Over 50 mi964 residents

Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.

The jobs

What the 6,164 jobs in Centereach are

6,164 jobs are based in Centereach. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Centereach’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in CentereachJobs Centereach residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms10%12%
Trade, transport & utilities18%20%
Services: health, schools, offices72%67%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less19%12%
$1,251–$3,333 a month31%21%
Over $3,333 a month51%67%

Who does it

29 or younger26%23%
30 to 5448%50%
55 and older27%27%
−2%

Jobs based in Centereach, 2013 → 2023: 6,261 → 6,164. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.

Time on the road

About 32 minutes each way, about the NY average

From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.

A year of commuting
245 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.2 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Centereach32 min
New York33 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
11%

of Centereach workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.

About 1 in 10
Next door

Centereach and the towns next door

Darker towns draw more of Centereach’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Every worker, home to work. The 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 says. A 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 surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
  • Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
Beyond the commute

More of Centereach

Centereach home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Centereach, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Weigh in
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Ask neighbors

Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.

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