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Work & commute in North Sea · A commuter town

92% of North Sea’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave North Sea for work: only 8% work in town. The top destinations are Southampton (43%), New York (16%) and East Hampton (9%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Work in town
8%
161 of 2,137 working residents
Typical commute
12 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
27 min
Less than NY (33 min)
Work from home
20%
More than NY (15%)
Jobs based here
1,299
A commuter town

What kind of work town is North Sea?

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

★ What stands out · The commute map

43% of working residents work in Southampton

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

SouthamptonNew York: 344 residents work here (16%)Babylon: 26 residents work here (1%)Riverhead: 43 residents work here (2%)Hempstead: 45 residents work here (2%)Brookhaven: 77 residents work here (4%)Islip: 58 residents work here (3%)East Hampton: 203 residents work here (9%)Huntington: 32 residents work here (1%)Southampton: 926 residents work here (43%)Southold: 32 residents work here (1%)TuckahoeNoyackNorth SeaWater MillSouthamptonNew YorkEast HamptonBrookhavenIslipHempsteadNorth Sea
1
Southampton4.5 mi away
43%926
2
New York82.3 mi away
16%344
3
East Hampton19.2 mi away
9%203
4
Brookhaven29.4 mi away
4%77
5
Islip44 mi away
3%58
6
Hempstead66.2 mi away
2%45
7
Riverhead16.4 mi away
2%43
8
Huntington50.8 mi away
1%32
9
Southold15 mi away
1%32
10
Babylon51.7 mi away
1%26
Everywhere elseother towns and states
16%351
The top trips

Where North Sea 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
206 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.6 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

North Sea27 min
New York33 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
20%

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

About 2 in 10
The jobs

71% of the jobs in North Sea pay over $3,333 a month

1,299 jobs are based in North Sea. Here is what they are, next to the jobs North Sea’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in North SeaJobs North Sea residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms26%15%
Trade, transport & utilities13%17%
Services: health, schools, offices61%68%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less9%11%
$1,251–$3,333 a month20%20%
Over $3,333 a month71%70%

Who does it

29 or younger25%20%
30 to 5448%47%
55 and older28%34%
−8%

Jobs based in North Sea, 2013 → 2023: 1,405 → 1,299. 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.

Day and night

North Sea quiets down on a workday

On a workday 1,976 residents head out to work, 161 work right here, and 1,138 people come in from elsewhere.

1,976live here, work elsewhere
161live and work here
1,138work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night6,500
Workday5,600
6,500live here− 2,000head out to work+ 1,100come in to work= 5,600on a workday

About 5,600 people are in North Sea on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.61jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

0.61 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 North Sea 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 mi80 miSouthampton: 43% · 4.5 miNew York: 16% · 82.3 miEast Hampton: 9% · 19.2 miBrookhaven: 4% · 29.4 miIslip: 3% · 44 miHempstead: 2% · 66.2 miRiverhead: 2% · 16.4 miHuntington: 1% · 50.8 miSouthold: 1% · 15 miBabylon: 1% · 51.7 miSouthampton 43%East Hampton 9%Brookhaven 4%Islip 3%North Sea
North SeaTop destinations (size = commuters)
47%Under 10 mi993 residents
11%10–24 mi234 residents
12%25–50 mi259 residents
30%Over 50 mi648 residents

About 30% 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.

Next door

North Sea and the towns next door

Darker towns draw more of North Sea’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 North Sea

North Sea home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from North Sea, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Weigh in
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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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