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Work & commute in Central Islip · A commuter town

95% of Central Islip’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Central Islip for work: only 5% work in town. The top destinations are Islip (29%), New York (17%) and Smithtown (13%). Half commute less than 10 miles.

Work in town
5%
743 of 16,404 working residents
Typical commute
10 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
27 min
Less than NY (33 min)
Work from home
7%
Less than NY (15%)
Jobs based here
5,860
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Central Islip?

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

★ What stands out · The commute map

29% of working residents work in Islip

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

IslandiaNew York: 2,707 residents work here (17%)Babylon: 1,304 residents work here (8%)Hempstead: 768 residents work here (5%)North Hempstead: 481 residents work here (3%)Brookhaven: 1,319 residents work here (8%)Islip: 4,778 residents work here (29%)Smithtown: 2,074 residents work here (13%)Huntington: 985 residents work here (6%)Southampton: 65 residents work here (0%)Oyster Bay: 817 residents work here (5%)Islip TerraceNorth Great RiverCentral IslipRonkonkomaBohemiaHauppaugeBrentwoodIslipNew YorkSmithtownBrookhavenBabylonHuntingtonCentral Islip
1
Islip4.6 mi away
29%4,778
2
New York39.9 mi away
17%2,707
3
Smithtown9.4 mi away
13%2,074
4
Brookhaven13.3 mi away
8%1,319
5
Babylon11.8 mi away
8%1,304
6
Huntington11.8 mi away
6%985
7
Oyster Bay16.6 mi away
5%817
8
Hempstead24.1 mi away
5%768
9
North Hempstead25.4 mi away
3%481
10
Southampton38.9 mi away
0%65
Everywhere elseother towns and states
7%1,106
The top trips

Where Central Islip clocks in

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

Time on the road

About 27 minutes each way, quicker than most of New York

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

A year of commuting
209 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.7 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Central Islip27 min
New York33 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
7%

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

About 1 in 10
Day and night

Central Islip quiets down on a workday

On a workday 15,661 residents head out to work, 743 work right here, and 5,117 people come in from elsewhere.

15,661live here, work elsewhere
743live and work here
5,117work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night38,000
Workday28,000
38,000live here− 16,000head out to work+ 5,100come in to work= 28,000on a workday

About 28,000 people are in Central Islip on a workday afternoon, 27% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.36jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

0.36 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 Central Islip commutes less than 10 miles

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

10 mi25 mi45 miIslip: 29% · 4.6 miNew York: 17% · 39.9 miSmithtown: 13% · 9.4 miBrookhaven: 8% · 13.3 miBabylon: 8% · 11.8 miHuntington: 6% · 11.8 miOyster Bay: 5% · 16.6 miHempstead: 5% · 24.1 miNorth Hempstead: 3% · 25.4 miSouthampton: 0% · 38.9 miIslip 29%New York 17%Smithtown 13%Brookhaven 8%Babylon 8%Central Islip
Central IslipTop destinations (size = commuters)
51%Under 10 mi8,373 residents
23%10–24 mi3,750 residents
22%25–50 mi3,564 residents
4%Over 50 mi708 residents

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

The jobs

What the 5,860 jobs in Central Islip are

5,860 jobs are based in Central Islip. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Central Islip’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Central IslipJobs Central Islip residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms14%20%
Trade, transport & utilities29%22%
Services: health, schools, offices57%58%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less10%11%
$1,251–$3,333 a month30%32%
Over $3,333 a month59%57%

Who does it

29 or younger22%26%
30 to 5451%51%
55 and older27%23%
−13%

Jobs based in Central Islip, 2013 → 2023: 6,713 → 5,860. 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.

Next door

Central Islip and the towns next door

Darker towns draw more of Central Islip’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 Central Islip

Central Islip home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Central Islip, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
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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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