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Work & commute in Selden · A commuter town

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

Most working residents leave Selden for work: only 4% work in town. The top destinations are Brookhaven (31%), New York (18%) and Islip (15%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Work in town
4%
401 of 10,582 working residents
Typical commute
12 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
30 min
Less than NY (33 min)
Work from home
9%
Less than NY (15%)
Jobs based here
4,043
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Selden?

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

★ What stands out · The commute map

31% 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: 1,858 residents work here (18%)Babylon: 387 residents work here (4%)Riverhead: 139 residents work here (1%)Hempstead: 397 residents work here (4%)North Hempstead: 268 residents work here (3%)Brookhaven: 3,237 residents work here (31%)Islip: 1,613 residents work here (15%)Smithtown: 875 residents work here (8%)Huntington: 515 residents work here (5%)SouthamptonOyster Bay: 381 residents work here (4%)TerryvilleFarmingvilleSeldenCentereachCoramBrookhavenNew YorkIslipSmithtownHuntingtonHempsteadSelden
1
Brookhaven4.6 mi away
31%3,237
2
New York48.9 mi away
18%1,858
3
Islip13.3 mi away
15%1,613
4
Smithtown7.6 mi away
8%875
5
Huntington17.3 mi away
5%515
6
Hempstead33.7 mi away
4%397
7
Babylon21.3 mi away
4%387
8
Oyster Bay24.7 mi away
4%381
9
North Hempstead33.4 mi away
3%268
10
Riverhead18.7 mi away
1%139
Everywhere elseother towns and states
9%912
The top trips

Where Selden clocks in

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

Day and night

Selden quiets down on a workday

On a workday 10,181 residents head out to work, 401 work right here, and 3,642 people come in from elsewhere.

10,181live here, work elsewhere
401live and work here
3,642work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night22,000
Workday15,000
22,000live here− 10,000head out to work+ 3,600come in to work= 15,000on a workday

About 15,000 people are in Selden on a workday afternoon, 30% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.38jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

0.38 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 Selden 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 mi55 miBrookhaven: 31% · 4.6 miNew York: 18% · 48.9 miIslip: 15% · 13.3 miSmithtown: 8% · 7.6 miHuntington: 5% · 17.3 miHempstead: 4% · 33.7 miBabylon: 4% · 21.3 miOyster Bay: 4% · 24.7 miNorth Hempstead: 3% · 33.4 miRiverhead: 1% · 18.7 miBrookhaven 31%New York 18%Islip 15%Smithtown 8%Huntington 5%Selden
SeldenTop destinations (size = commuters)
44%Under 10 mi4,652 residents
22%10–24 mi2,357 residents
23%25–50 mi2,380 residents
11%Over 50 mi1,188 residents

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

The jobs

What the 4,043 jobs in Selden are

4,043 jobs are based in Selden. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Selden’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in SeldenJobs Selden residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms6%13%
Trade, transport & utilities20%21%
Services: health, schools, offices74%67%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less23%12%
$1,251–$3,333 a month36%23%
Over $3,333 a month41%65%

Who does it

29 or younger25%23%
30 to 5440%51%
55 and older35%27%
+6%

Jobs based in Selden, 2013 → 2023: 3,817 → 4,043. 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 30 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
232 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.7 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Selden30 min
New York33 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
9%

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

About 1 in 10
Next door

Selden and the towns next door

Darker towns draw more of Selden’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 Selden

Selden home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Selden, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
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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.

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