Babylon Town Hall · Photo: DanTD · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Babylon top those of 91% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Babylon is better than 87% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns (A). The poverty rate is 6.1%, where New York as a whole has 14.0%. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 3.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 79.0 in New York City.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Babylon, in brief
Babylon trades workers with the towns around it
Babylon has about as many jobs (88,645) as working residents (104,713), but they are mostly different people: 82,254 residents leave for work each day while 66,186 people come in. Only 25% of the jobs in Babylon are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Babylon’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Babylon is New York City, 33 miles away as the crow flies. 21% of working residents (22,268) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A lot of Babylon works one town over
28% of working residents work in a town that borders Babylon: Islip (11%), Oyster Bay (9%) and Huntington (8%). Next door ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
How Babylon earns its Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds Babylon’s grade up (ahead of 97% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (4.8%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Babylon could be anywhere from A− to A.
The workday shuffle in and out of Babylon
On a workday 82,254 residents head out to work, 22,459 work right here, and 66,186 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.85 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.
The distance from Babylon to work
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
21% of working residents work in New York City
Where Babylon clocks in
21% of workers
11% of workers
10% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
The 88,645 jobs based in Babylon
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Babylon, 2013 → 2023: 87,218 → 88,645. 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.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Babylon’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Babylon: about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Babylon workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 101,470 commuters (the 11% who work from home are left out). Across New York: 57% drive alone, 25% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Babylon is easy on foot, hard by bus
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 113,575 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 45% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 4% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 79% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 6.4% of Babylon households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 8% of Babylon’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Ranked on jobs and income, Babylon is 15th among 116 U.S. towns of 154,000 to 297,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Hempstead NY | 238,982 | $158K | 4.5% | 4.1% | 20% | A |
| 2 | Frisco TX | 236,955 | $150K | 3.6% | 4.6% | 14% | A |
| 3 | Huntington NY | 205,891 | $168K | 5.0% | 4.3% | 23% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Plano TX | 293,028 | $112K | 6.8% | 4.0% | 23% | A |
| 14 | Wheeling Township IL | 154,050 | $106K | 6.9% | 3.7% | 14% | A |
| 15 | Babylon NY | 219,766 | $128K | 6.1% | 4.8% | 21% | A |
| 16 | Scottsdale AZ | 243,006 | $111K | 7.3% | 3.6% | 28% | A |
| 17 | Chandler AZ | 278,748 | $108K | 7.9% | 3.6% | 23% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 60 | Yonkers NY | 212,603 | $84K | 13.8% | 7.1% | 18% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 116 | Macon-Bibb County GA | 157,556 | $51K | 24.7% | 8.1% | 53% | D |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Babylon, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
28% of Babylon works in a town next door
The biggest share goes to Islip (11%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Babylon workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Babylon | – | A | A | 31 min | $128,108 |
| Islip | 11% | A | A− | 28 min | $130,132 |
| West Islip | under 1% | — | — | 30 min | — |
| Oyster Bay | 9% | A | A+ | 35 min | $160,126 |
| Huntington | 8% | A | A | 35 min | $168,029 |
| Amityville | under 1% | A− | A+ | 31 min | $106,285 |
| East Massapequa | under 1% | — | — | 35 min | — |
| Dix Hills | under 1% | — | — | 37 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. West Islip, East Massapequa and Dix Hills: Census-designated places inside larger towns, graded as part of them. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Babylon’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Babylon: questions
What is the median household income in Babylon?
$128,108 (±$2,844) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Babylon?
6.1%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Babylon?
31 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Babylon work?
21% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New York City (21%, 33 mi), Islip (11%, 8 mi), Hempstead (10%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Babylon walkable?
Babylon is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 11.4 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Babylon without a car?
8% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 4% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Babylon, from the people who make the trip.
More of Babylon
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. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.