Work & commute · Riverhead

Work & commute in Riverhead, NY

About one in 5 of Riverhead’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are New York (15%), Brookhaven (15%) and Southampton (11%). Half commute less than 21 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

21%

3,311 of 15,467 working residents

Typical commute

21 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

28 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

10%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 12,156 Riverhead residents head out of town to work, 3,311 work right here, and 12,945 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Riverhead.

12,156live here, work elsewhere

3,311live and work here

12,945work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Riverhead goes to work

Riverhead (in town)right here

21%3,311

New York67.5 mi away

15%2,394

Brookhaven15.1 mi away

15%2,298

Southampton14.7 mi away

11%1,629

Islip30.9 mi away

7%1,136

Southold23.6 mi away

5%747

Huntington35.1 mi away

3%388

Smithtown24.5 mi away

2%386

East Hampton32.8 mi away

2%353

Babylon39 mi away

2%312

Everywhere elseother towns and states

16%2,513

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

How far

How far Riverhead commutes

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

30%

27%

19%

24%

30%Under 10 mi

27%10–24 mi

19%25–50 mi

24%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Riverhead is balanced between jobs and homes

1.05jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.05 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Riverhead are

16,256 jobs are based in Riverhead. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Riverhead’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Riverhead

16,256 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)18%

Trade, transport & utilities28%

Services (health, schools, offices…)55%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month58%

Jobs Riverhead residents hold

15,467 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)67%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month65%

+2%

Jobs based in Riverhead, 2013 → 2023: 15,904 → 16,256. 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.