Guest, Sign inJoin
Work & commute in East Setauket · Balanced

95% of East Setauket’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave East Setauket for work: only 5% work in town. The top destinations are Brookhaven (35%), New York (18%) and Islip (13%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Work in town
5%
254 of 4,943 working residents
Typical commute
12 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
30 min
Less than NY (33 min)
Work from home
14%
Less than NY (15%)
Jobs based here
3,708
Balanced

What kind of work town is East Setauket?

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

★ What stands out · The commute map

35% 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.

PoquottPort JeffersonNew York: 878 residents work here (18%)Babylon: 138 residents work here (3%)Riverhead: 73 residents work here (1%)Hempstead: 160 residents work here (3%)North Hempstead: 82 residents work here (2%)Brookhaven: 1,747 residents work here (35%)Islip: 618 residents work here (13%)Smithtown: 399 residents work here (8%)Huntington: 224 residents work here (5%)SouthamptonOyster Bay: 132 residents work here (3%)Stony Brook UniversitySetauketPort Jefferson StationStony BrookEast SetauketBrookhavenNew YorkIslipSmithtownHuntingtonHempsteadEast Setauket
1
Brookhaven8.3 mi away
35%1,747
2
New York47.7 mi away
18%878
3
Islip15.1 mi away
13%618
4
Smithtown4.4 mi away
8%399
5
Huntington15 mi away
5%224
6
Hempstead33.5 mi away
3%160
7
Babylon22.6 mi away
3%138
8
Oyster Bay23.3 mi away
3%132
9
North Hempstead31.6 mi away
2%82
10
Riverhead20.1 mi away
1%73
Everywhere elseother towns and states
10%492
The top trips

Where East Setauket clocks in

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

Day and night

East Setauket quiets down on a workday

On a workday 4,689 residents head out to work, 254 work right here, and 3,454 people come in from elsewhere.

4,689live here, work elsewhere
254live and work here
3,454work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night10,000
Workday8,900
10,000live here− 4,700head out to work+ 3,500come in to work= 8,900on a workday

About 8,900 people are in East Setauket on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.75jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

About as many jobs as working residents (0.75 per resident).

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 East Setauket 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: 35% · 8.3 miNew York: 18% · 47.7 miIslip: 13% · 15.1 miSmithtown: 8% · 4.4 miHuntington: 5% · 15 miHempstead: 3% · 33.5 miBabylon: 3% · 22.6 miOyster Bay: 3% · 23.3 miNorth Hempstead: 2% · 31.6 miRiverhead: 1% · 20.1 miBrookhaven 35%New York 18%Islip 13%Smithtown 8%Huntington 5%East Setauket
East SetauketTop destinations (size = commuters)
42%Under 10 mi2,061 residents
25%10–24 mi1,243 residents
24%25–50 mi1,193 residents
9%Over 50 mi443 residents

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

The jobs

What the 3,708 jobs in East Setauket are

3,708 jobs are based in East Setauket. Here is what they are, next to the jobs East Setauket’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in East SetauketJobs East Setauket residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms12%9%
Trade, transport & utilities24%15%
Services: health, schools, offices64%77%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less14%13%
$1,251–$3,333 a month25%17%
Over $3,333 a month62%70%

Who does it

29 or younger23%19%
30 to 5448%50%
55 and older29%30%
−14%

Jobs based in East Setauket, 2013 → 2023: 4,329 → 3,708. 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 30 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
232 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.7 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

East Setauket30 min
New York33 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
14%

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

About 1 in 10
Next door

East Setauket and the towns next door

Darker towns draw more of East Setauket’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 East Setauket

East Setauket home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from East Setauket, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Weigh in
Is the commute from East Setauket worth it?

Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.

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.

Post to East Setauket

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in