Photo: DanTD · CC BY-SA 4.0Jobs and earnings in Cold Spring Harbor, and the trip to work
The average commute takes 34 minutes each way (New York 33, U.S. 26). For 29% of workers, the job is at home; New York has 15%. Only 4% stay in Cold Spring Harbor for work; outside it, New York City is the main destination (27%, 29 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Cold Spring Harbor and work: the main findings
Fewer jobs are based in Cold Spring Harbor than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Cold Spring Harbor fell from 1,857 in 2013 to 943 in 2023, −49%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Cold Spring Harbor’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Cold Spring Harbor is New York City, 29 miles away as the crow flies. 27% of working residents (321) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A lot of Cold Spring Harbor works from home
29% of Cold Spring Harbor workers work from home, against 15% across New York. Time on the road ↓
Three in four Cold Spring Harbor workers earn over $40,000 a year
78% of Cold Spring Harbor’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, the top earnings band in the Census data. The jobs ↓
Cold Spring Harbor’s workforce skews older
38% of Cold Spring Harbor’s working residents are 55 or older. The jobs ↓
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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Cold Spring Harbor
943 jobs are based in Cold Spring Harbor.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cold Spring Harbor, 2013 → 2023: 1,857 → 943. 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 Cold Spring Harbor’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Half of Cold Spring Harbor commutes less than 14 miles
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.
From Cold Spring Harbor, about 34 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cold Spring Harbor workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,173 commuters (the 29% 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.
A workday in Cold Spring Harbor: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 1,161 residents head out to work, 47 work right here, and 896 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 (0.78 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.
Where the trip to work from Cold Spring Harbor ends
Where Cold Spring Harbor clocks in
27% of workers
16% of workers
14% 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 towns next door employ 14% of Cold Spring Harbor
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Cold Spring Harbor workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cold Spring Harbor | – | — | — | 34 min | $250,000+ |
| Lloyd Harbor | under 1% | A+ | A− | 47 min | $250,000+ |
| Oyster Bay | 14% | A | A+ | 35 min | $160,126 |
| Laurel Hollow | under 1% | A+ | B+ | 45 min | $250,000+ |
| West Hills | under 1% | — | — | 35 min | — |
| Woodbury | under 1% | — | — | 35 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. West Hills and Woodbury: Census-designated places inside larger towns, graded as part of them. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Oyster Bay. Darker towns draw more of Cold Spring Harbor’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.
- A ceiling on income. The Census stops at $250,000+, so the true median may be higher.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Cold Spring Harbor: questions
What is the median household income in Cold Spring Harbor?
$250,000+ (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cold Spring Harbor?
1.5%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cold Spring Harbor?
34 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 29% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cold Spring Harbor work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New York City (27%, 29 mi), Huntington (16%, 4 mi), Oyster Bay (14%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Cold Spring Harbor without a car?
14% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Cold Spring Harbor, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cold Spring Harbor
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.