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Work & commute in Ridge · A commuter town

96% of Ridge’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Ridge for work: only 4% work in town. The top destinations are Brookhaven (35%), New York (16%) and Islip (13%). Half commute less than 17 miles.

Work in town
4%
213 of 5,860 working residents
Typical commute
17 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
36 min
More than NY (33 min)
Work from home
18%
More than NY (15%)
Jobs based here
1,729
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Ridge?

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

★ What stands out · Next door

41% of Ridge works in a bordering town

The biggest share goes to Brookhaven (35%). Darker towns draw more of Ridge’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

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.

New York: 927 residents work here (16%)Babylon: 160 residents work here (3%)Riverhead: 346 residents work here (6%)Hempstead: 200 residents work here (3%)Brookhaven: 2,059 residents work here (35%)Islip: 765 residents work here (13%)Smithtown: 246 residents work here (4%)Huntington: 186 residents work here (3%)Southampton: 136 residents work here (2%)SoutholdOyster Bay: 150 residents work here (3%)East ShorehamMiddle IslandWading RiverRocky PointYaphankRidgeCalvertonBrookhavenNew YorkIslipRiverheadSmithtownHempsteadRidge
1
Brookhaven5 mi away
35%2,059
2
New York57.5 mi away
16%927
3
Islip20.8 mi away
13%765
4
Riverhead10.2 mi away
6%346
5
Smithtown15.3 mi away
4%246
6
Hempstead42.2 mi away
3%200
7
Huntington25.7 mi away
3%186
8
Babylon28.9 mi away
3%160
9
Oyster Bay33.4 mi away
3%150
10
Southampton22.2 mi away
2%136
Everywhere elseother towns and states
12%685
The top trips

Where Ridge clocks in

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

The jobs

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

1,729 jobs are based in Ridge. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Ridge’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in RidgeJobs Ridge residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms16%12%
Trade, transport & utilities5%18%
Services: health, schools, offices79%70%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less10%12%
$1,251–$3,333 a month19%20%
Over $3,333 a month71%69%

Who does it

29 or younger18%19%
30 to 5452%50%
55 and older30%31%
−65%

Jobs based in Ridge, 2013 → 2023: 5,007 → 1,729. 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

Ridge quiets down on a workday

On a workday 5,647 residents head out to work, 213 work right here, and 1,516 people come in from elsewhere.

5,647live here, work elsewhere
213live and work here
1,516work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night13,000
Workday8,400
13,000live here− 5,600head out to work+ 1,500come in to work= 8,400on a workday

About 8,400 people are in Ridge on a workday afternoon, 33% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.30jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

0.30 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 Ridge commutes less than 17 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 mi65 miBrookhaven: 35% · 5 miNew York: 16% · 57.5 miIslip: 13% · 20.8 miRiverhead: 6% · 10.2 miSmithtown: 4% · 15.3 miHempstead: 3% · 42.2 miHuntington: 3% · 25.7 miBabylon: 3% · 28.9 miOyster Bay: 3% · 33.4 miSouthampton: 2% · 22.2 miBrookhaven 35%New York 16%Islip 13%Riverhead 6%Smithtown 4%Ridge
RidgeTop destinations (size = commuters)
30%Under 10 mi1,751 residents
31%10–24 mi1,829 residents
18%25–50 mi1,046 residents
21%Over 50 mi1,227 residents

About 21% 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.

Time on the road

About 36 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
278 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.6 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Ridge36 min
New York33 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
18%

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

About 2 in 10
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 Ridge

Ridge home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Ridge, 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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