Guest, Sign inJoin
Work & commute in Rocky Point · A commuter town

93% of Rocky Point’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Rocky Point for work: only 7% work in town. The top destinations are Brookhaven (38%), New York (15%) and Islip (11%). Half commute less than 16 miles.

Work in town
7%
496 of 6,707 working residents
Typical commute
16 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
36 min
More than NY (33 min)
Work from home
9%
Less than NY (15%)
Jobs based here
2,745
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Rocky Point?

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

★ What stands out · The commute map

38% 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.

ShorehamNew York: 1,026 residents work here (15%)Babylon: 140 residents work here (2%)Riverhead: 336 residents work here (5%)Hempstead: 198 residents work here (3%)North Hempstead: 123 residents work here (2%)Brookhaven: 2,580 residents work here (38%)Islip: 762 residents work here (11%)Smithtown: 408 residents work here (6%)Huntington: 254 residents work here (4%)SouthamptonOyster Bay: 174 residents work here (3%)Sound BeachEast ShorehamMiller PlaceMiddle IslandRocky PointRidgeBrookhavenNew YorkIslipSmithtownRiverheadHuntingtonRocky Point
1
Brookhaven5.8 mi away
38%2,580
2
New York55.8 mi away
15%1,026
3
Islip20.6 mi away
11%762
4
Smithtown12.7 mi away
6%408
5
Riverhead11.8 mi away
5%336
6
Huntington23.3 mi away
4%254
7
Hempstead41.1 mi away
3%198
8
Oyster Bay31.5 mi away
3%174
9
Babylon28.7 mi away
2%140
10
North Hempstead39.9 mi away
2%123
Everywhere elseother towns and states
11%706
The top trips

Where Rocky Point clocks in

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

Day and night

Rocky Point quiets down on a workday

On a workday 6,211 residents head out to work, 496 work right here, and 2,249 people come in from elsewhere.

6,211live here, work elsewhere
496live and work here
2,249work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night13,000
Workday9,400
13,000live here− 6,200head out to work+ 2,200come in to work= 9,400on a workday

About 9,400 people are in Rocky Point on a workday afternoon, 30% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.41jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

0.41 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 Rocky Point commutes less than 16 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: 38% · 5.8 miNew York: 15% · 55.8 miIslip: 11% · 20.6 miSmithtown: 6% · 12.7 miRiverhead: 5% · 11.8 miHuntington: 4% · 23.3 miHempstead: 3% · 41.1 miOyster Bay: 3% · 31.5 miBabylon: 2% · 28.7 miNorth Hempstead: 2% · 39.9 miBrookhaven 38%Islip 11%Smithtown 6%Riverhead 5%Rocky Point
Rocky PointTop destinations (size = commuters)
31%Under 10 mi2,053 residents
33%10–24 mi2,225 residents
17%25–50 mi1,115 residents
20%Over 50 mi1,307 residents

About 20% 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.

The jobs

What the 2,745 jobs in Rocky Point are

2,745 jobs are based in Rocky Point. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Rocky Point’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Rocky PointJobs Rocky Point residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms13%11%
Trade, transport & utilities18%17%
Services: health, schools, offices70%72%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less22%11%
$1,251–$3,333 a month31%19%
Over $3,333 a month48%69%

Who does it

29 or younger27%21%
30 to 5447%51%
55 and older26%28%
+7%

Jobs based in Rocky Point, 2013 → 2023: 2,571 → 2,745. 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.

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

Rocky Point36 min
New York33 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
9%

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

About 1 in 10
Next door

Rocky Point and the towns next door

Darker towns draw more of Rocky Point’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 Rocky Point

Rocky Point home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Rocky Point, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Weigh in
Is the commute from Rocky Point worth it?

Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.

Ask neighbors

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.

Post to Rocky Point

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in