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Work & commute in Merrick · A commuter town

94% of Merrick’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Merrick for work: only 6% work in town. The top destinations are New York (37%), Hempstead (29%) and North Hempstead (8%). Half commute less than 13 miles.

Work in town
6%
617 of 10,523 working residents
Typical commute
13 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
39 min
More than NY (33 min)
Work from home
25%
More than NY (15%)
Jobs based here
5,957
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Merrick?

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

★ What stands out · The commute map

37% of working residents work in New York

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

Long Beach: 38 residents work here (0%)FreeportNew York: 3,882 residents work here (37%)Babylon: 287 residents work here (3%)Hempstead: 3,058 residents work here (29%)North Hempstead: 877 residents work here (8%)Brookhaven: 127 residents work here (1%)Islip: 262 residents work here (2%)Smithtown: 103 residents work here (1%)Huntington: 373 residents work here (4%)Oyster Bay: 729 residents work here (7%)North MerrickRooseveltBellmoreNorth BellmoreMerrickNew YorkHempsteadNorth HempsteadOyster BayHuntingtonBabylonMerrick
1
New York20.3 mi away
37%3,882
2
Hempstead3.3 mi away
29%3,058
3
North Hempstead12.4 mi away
8%877
4
Oyster Bay10.5 mi away
7%729
5
Huntington18.5 mi away
4%373
6
Babylon12.3 mi away
3%287
7
Islip19.1 mi away
2%262
8
Brookhaven34.1 mi away
1%127
9
Smithtown26.9 mi away
1%103
10
Long Beach7.5 mi away
0%38
Everywhere elseother towns and states
7%787
The top trips

Where Merrick 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 39 minutes each way, longer than most of New York

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

A year of commuting
295 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 12.3 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Merrick39 min
New York33 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
25%

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

About 2 in 10
Day and night

Merrick quiets down on a workday

On a workday 9,906 residents head out to work, 617 work right here, and 5,340 people come in from elsewhere.

9,906live here, work elsewhere
617live and work here
5,340work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night22,000
Workday17,000
22,000live here− 9,900head out to work+ 5,300come in to work= 17,000on a workday

About 17,000 people are in Merrick on a workday afternoon, 21% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.57jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

0.57 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 Merrick commutes less than 13 miles

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

10 mi25 mi40 miNew York: 37% · 20.3 miHempstead: 29% · 3.3 miNorth Hempstead: 8% · 12.4 miOyster Bay: 7% · 10.5 miHuntington: 4% · 18.5 miBabylon: 3% · 12.3 miIslip: 2% · 19.1 miBrookhaven: 1% · 34.1 miSmithtown: 1% · 26.9 miLong Beach: 0% · 7.5 miNew York 37%Hempstead 29%North Hempstead 8%Oyster Bay 7%Huntington 4%Merrick
MerrickTop destinations (size = commuters)
40%Under 10 mi4,213 residents
50%10–24 mi5,242 residents
6%25–50 mi673 residents
4%Over 50 mi390 residents

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

The jobs

What the 5,957 jobs in Merrick are

5,957 jobs are based in Merrick. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Merrick’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in MerrickJobs Merrick residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms5%8%
Trade, transport & utilities17%16%
Services: health, schools, offices78%76%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less21%10%
$1,251–$3,333 a month37%16%
Over $3,333 a month42%74%

Who does it

29 or younger25%18%
30 to 5444%53%
55 and older31%29%
−3%

Jobs based in Merrick, 2013 → 2023: 6,126 → 5,957. 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

Merrick and the towns next door

Darker towns draw more of Merrick’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 Merrick

Merrick home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Merrick, 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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