Work & commute · Hempstead

Work & commute in Hempstead, NY

About one in 4 of Hempstead’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are New York (40%), North Hempstead (9%) and Oyster Bay (7%). Half commute less than 11 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

28%

101,608 of 361,358 working residents

Typical commute

11 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

37 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

14%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 259,750 Hempstead residents head out of town to work, 101,608 work right here, and 155,627 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Hempstead.

259,750live here, work elsewhere

101,608live and work here

155,627work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Hempstead goes to work

New York17.4 mi away

40%142,801

Hempstead (in town)right here

28%101,608

North Hempstead12.3 mi away

9%31,669

Oyster Bay12.6 mi away

7%23,878

Babylon15.3 mi away

3%10,009

Huntington21.1 mi away

2%8,942

Islip22.3 mi away

2%6,446

Brookhaven37.3 mi away

1%3,456

Smithtown29.9 mi away

1%2,534

Long Beach4.4 mi away

0%1,697

Everywhere elseother towns and states

8%28,318

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

How far

How far Hempstead commutes

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

47%

43%

47%Under 10 mi

43%10–24 mi

6%25–50 mi

4%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Hempstead is a commuter town

0.71jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Hempstead are

257,235 jobs are based in Hempstead. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Hempstead’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Hempstead

257,235 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)7%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)73%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month58%

Jobs Hempstead residents hold

361,358 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)8%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)76%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month68%

+6%

Jobs based in Hempstead, 2013 → 2023: 243,083 → 257,235. 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.