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Work & commute in West Hills · Balanced

97% of West Hills’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave West Hills for work: only 3% work in town. The top destinations are New York (26%), Huntington (19%) and Oyster Bay (13%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Work in town
3%
83 of 2,498 working residents
Typical commute
12 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
35 min
More than NY (33 min)
Work from home
22%
More than NY (15%)
Jobs based here
1,915
Balanced

What kind of work town is West Hills?

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

★ What stands out · Next door

32% of West Hills works in a bordering town

The biggest share goes to Huntington (19%). Darker towns draw more of West Hills’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

The commute map

26% 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.

Glen Cove: 18 residents work here (1%)New York: 657 residents work here (26%)Babylon: 120 residents work here (5%)Hempstead: 177 residents work here (7%)North Hempstead: 222 residents work here (9%)Brookhaven: 56 residents work here (2%)Islip: 126 residents work here (5%)Smithtown: 70 residents work here (3%)Huntington: 482 residents work here (19%)SouthamptonOyster Bay: 329 residents work here (13%)Cold Spring HarborSouth HuntingtonWoodburyWest HillsHuntington StationMelvilleNew YorkHuntingtonOyster BayNorth HempsteadHempsteadIslipWest Hills
1
New York28.6 mi away
26%657
2
Huntington5.3 mi away
19%482
3
Oyster Bay4.2 mi away
13%329
4
North Hempstead12.8 mi away
9%222
5
Hempstead15.8 mi away
7%177
6
Islip14.3 mi away
5%126
7
Babylon13.8 mi away
5%120
8
Smithtown15 mi away
3%70
9
Brookhaven24.9 mi away
2%56
10
Glen Cove11.9 mi away
1%18
Everywhere elseother towns and states
10%241
The top trips

Where West Hills clocks in

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

Time on the road

About 35 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
268 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.2 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

West Hills35 min
New York33 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
22%

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

About 2 in 10
Day and night

West Hills quiets down on a workday

On a workday 2,415 residents head out to work, 83 work right here, and 1,832 people come in from elsewhere.

2,415live here, work elsewhere
83live and work here
1,832work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night5,400
Workday4,800
5,400live here− 2,400head out to work+ 1,800come in to work= 4,800on a workday

About 4,800 people are in West Hills on a workday afternoon, 11% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.77jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

About as many jobs as working residents (0.77 per resident).

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 West Hills 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 mi35 miNew York: 26% · 28.6 miHuntington: 19% · 5.3 miOyster Bay: 13% · 4.2 miNorth Hempstead: 9% · 12.8 miHempstead: 7% · 15.8 miIslip: 5% · 14.3 miBabylon: 5% · 13.8 miSmithtown: 3% · 15 miBrookhaven: 2% · 24.9 miGlen Cove: 1% · 11.9 miNew York 26%Huntington 19%Oyster Bay 13%Hempstead 7%West Hills
West HillsTop destinations (size = commuters)
42%Under 10 mi1,054 residents
28%10–24 mi698 residents
24%25–50 mi603 residents
6%Over 50 mi142 residents

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

The jobs

What the 1,915 jobs in West Hills are

1,915 jobs are based in West Hills. Here is what they are, next to the jobs West Hills’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in West HillsJobs West Hills residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms9%9%
Trade, transport & utilities15%17%
Services: health, schools, offices76%74%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less17%11%
$1,251–$3,333 a month35%15%
Over $3,333 a month47%74%

Who does it

29 or younger32%20%
30 to 5441%46%
55 and older26%33%
−44%

Jobs based in West Hills, 2013 → 2023: 3,421 → 1,915. 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.

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 West Hills

West Hills home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from West Hills, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
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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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