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Work & commute in Wantagh · A commuter town

95% of Wantagh’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Wantagh for work: only 5% work in town. The top destinations are New York (33%), Hempstead (28%) and Oyster Bay (10%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Work in town
5%
471 of 9,225 working residents
Typical commute
12 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
34 min
More than NY (33 min)
Work from home
18%
More than NY (15%)
Jobs based here
4,368
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Wantagh?

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

★ What stands out · The commute map

33% of working residents work in New York

A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.

Long BeachGlen Cove: 31 residents work here (0%)New York: 3,078 residents work here (33%)Babylon: 385 residents work here (4%)Hempstead: 2,621 residents work here (28%)North Hempstead: 801 residents work here (9%)Brookhaven: 105 residents work here (1%)Islip: 207 residents work here (2%)Smithtown: 70 residents work here (1%)Huntington: 332 residents work here (4%)Oyster Bay: 906 residents work here (10%)North WantaghBellmoreSeafordNorth BellmoreWantaghNew YorkHempsteadOyster BayNorth HempsteadBabylonHuntingtonWantagh
1
New York22.4 mi away
33%3,078
2
Hempstead5.7 mi away
28%2,621
3
Oyster Bay9.2 mi away
10%906
4
North Hempstead12.8 mi away
9%801
5
Babylon10.3 mi away
4%385
6
Huntington16.5 mi away
4%332
7
Islip16.8 mi away
2%207
8
Brookhaven31.7 mi away
1%105
9
Smithtown24.5 mi away
1%70
10
Glen Cove16.5 mi away
0%31
Everywhere elseother towns and states
7%689
The top trips

Where Wantagh clocks in

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

Day and night

Wantagh quiets down on a workday

On a workday 8,754 residents head out to work, 471 work right here, and 3,897 people come in from elsewhere.

8,754live here, work elsewhere
471live and work here
3,897work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night18,000
Workday14,000
18,000live here− 8,800head out to work+ 3,900come in to work= 14,000on a workday

About 14,000 people are in Wantagh on a workday afternoon, 26% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.47jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

0.47 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 Wantagh 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 mi40 miNew York: 33% · 22.4 miHempstead: 28% · 5.7 miOyster Bay: 10% · 9.2 miNorth Hempstead: 9% · 12.8 miBabylon: 4% · 10.3 miHuntington: 4% · 16.5 miIslip: 2% · 16.8 miBrookhaven: 1% · 31.7 miSmithtown: 1% · 24.5 miGlen Cove: 0% · 16.5 miNew York 33%Hempstead 28%Oyster Bay 10%North Hempstead 9%Babylon 4%Wantagh
WantaghTop destinations (size = commuters)
43%Under 10 mi3,989 residents
33%10–24 mi3,085 residents
20%25–50 mi1,804 residents
4%Over 50 mi344 residents

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

The jobs

What the 4,368 jobs in Wantagh are

4,368 jobs are based in Wantagh. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Wantagh’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in WantaghJobs Wantagh residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms11%7%
Trade, transport & utilities17%14%
Services: health, schools, offices71%78%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less18%10%
$1,251–$3,333 a month29%16%
Over $3,333 a month53%74%

Who does it

29 or younger24%19%
30 to 5447%51%
55 and older29%30%
−4%

Jobs based in Wantagh, 2013 → 2023: 4,567 → 4,368. 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 34 minutes each way, about the NY average

From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.

A year of commuting
261 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.9 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Wantagh34 min
New York33 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
18%

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

About 2 in 10
Next door

Wantagh and the towns next door

Darker towns draw more of Wantagh’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 Wantagh

Wantagh home →

Commuter talk

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

Town Square →
Weigh in
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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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