97% of Laurel’s working residents leave town for work
Most working residents leave Laurel for work: only 3% work in town. The top destinations are Southold (26%), New York (14%) and Riverhead (14%). Half commute less than 18 miles.
What stands out about work in Laurel
Laurel’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Laurel is New York, 76 miles away as the crow flies. 14% of working residents (96) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Home offices are common in Laurel
32% of Laurel workers work from home, against 15% across New York. Time on the road ↓
Commutes from Laurel are quick
The average trip to work takes 24 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 664 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Half of Laurel commutes less than 18 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 26% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
About 24 minutes each way, quicker than most of New York
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Laurel workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Laurel quiets down on a workday
On a workday 642 residents head out to work, 22 work right here, and 338 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,100 people are in Laurel on a workday afternoon, 22% fewer than live here.
0.54 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.
26% of working residents work in Southold
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Laurel clocks in
26% of workers
14% of workers
14% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Laurel makes things: 31% of its jobs are in goods
360 jobs are based in Laurel. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Laurel’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Laurel, 2013 → 2023: 333 → 360. 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.
14% of Laurel works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Riverhead (14%). Darker towns draw more of Laurel’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
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.
More of Laurel
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Laurel, from the people who make the trip.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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.