95% of Stony Brook’s working residents leave town for work
Most working residents leave Stony Brook for work: only 5% work in town. The top destinations are Brookhaven (32%), New York (17%) and Islip (13%). Half commute less than 11 miles.
What kind of work town is Stony Brook?
Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.
42% of Stony Brook works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Brookhaven (32%). Darker towns draw more of Stony Brook’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
32% 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.
Where Stony Brook clocks in
32% of workers
17% of workers
13% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Stony Brook quiets down on a workday
On a workday 5,481 residents head out to work, 299 work right here, and 2,884 people come in from elsewhere.
About 10,000 people are in Stony Brook on a workday afternoon, 20% fewer than live here.
0.55 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.
Half of Stony Brook commutes less than 11 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
What the 3,183 jobs in Stony Brook are
3,183 jobs are based in Stony Brook. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Stony Brook’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Stony Brook, 2013 → 2023: 3,436 → 3,183. 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.
About 30 minutes each way, quicker than most of New York
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Stony Brook workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
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.
More of Stony Brook
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Stony Brook, from the people who make the trip.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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.