Work & commute · Valley Stream

Work & commute in Valley Stream, NY

Most working residents leave Valley Stream for work: only 6% work in town. The top destinations are New York (52%), Hempstead (23%) and North Hempstead (8%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

1,148 of 18,820 working residents

Typical commute

12 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

41 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

12%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 17,672 Valley Stream residents head out of town to work, 1,148 work right here, and 16,954 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Valley Stream.

17,672live here, work elsewhere

1,148live and work here

16,954work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Valley Stream goes to work

New York12.3 mi away

52%9,698

Hempstead5.5 mi away

23%4,359

North Hempstead9.7 mi away

8%1,424

Oyster Bay13.9 mi away

4%704

Babylon20.4 mi away

1%280

Islip26.8 mi away

1%266

Huntington22.9 mi away

1%260

Brookhaven41.2 mi away

1%142

Smithtown32.7 mi away

1%100

Yonkers21.2 mi away

0%60

Everywhere elseother towns and states

8%1,527

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

How far

How far Valley Stream commutes

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

43%

48%

43%Under 10 mi

48%10–24 mi

5%25–50 mi

4%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Valley Stream is balanced between jobs and homes

0.96jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.96 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Valley Stream are

18,102 jobs are based in Valley Stream. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Valley Stream’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Valley Stream

18,102 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)5%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)72%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month34%

Over $3,333 a month51%

Jobs Valley Stream residents hold

18,820 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)7%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)75%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month68%

+62%

Jobs based in Valley Stream, 2013 → 2023: 11,194 → 18,102. 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.