Household incomes in Great Neck top those of 93% of U.S. towns
Only 6% work in Great Neck; the top destination outside it is New York City (53%, 14 miles). Below the poverty line: 6.6% of residents, where New York as a whole has 14.0%. The two grades for Great Neck are A− for jobs and income and A+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Great Neck and work: the main findings
More than half of Great Neck works in New York City
2,299 working residents, 53%, have their main job in New York City, 15 miles away. That’s 9 times as many as work in Great Neck itself. The commute map ↓
Great Neck workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 39 minutes each way, against 33 across New York. Over a year that’s about 299 hours of commuting, 46 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Great Neck
69% of Great Neck residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 51% of the jobs based in Great Neck pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 94% leave town for their job. 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.
Inside Great Neck’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Great Neck is better than 80% of U.S. towns, #153 of 758 in New York. Job access by car holds Great Neck’s grade up (among the top U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (6.7%, 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, Great Neck could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
The towns that employ Great Neck’s residents
Where Great Neck clocks in
53% of workers
5% 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.
About 39 minutes each way for Great Neck’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 12.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Great Neck workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,418 commuters (the 14% 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.
The 1,709 jobs based in Great Neck
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Great Neck, 2013 → 2023: 1,796 → 1,709. 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 Great Neck’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Great Neck quiets down on a workday
On a workday 4,065 residents head out to work, 246 work right here, and 1,463 people come in from elsewhere.
About 8,500 people are in Great Neck on a workday afternoon, 23% fewer than live here.
0.40 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.
Half of Great Neck commutes less than 12 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.
Great Neck is among the most walkable U.S. towns
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Great Neck is among the most walkable U.S. towns, #5 of 758 in New York. Both inputs place Great Neck near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,984 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 80% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 11.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 94% 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). 6.7% of Great Neck households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 31% of Great Neck’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 2,507 U.S. towns of 8,000 to 15,000, Great Neck comes 736th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 88 | East Rockaway NY | 10,096 | $125K | 2.6% | 3.2% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 91 | North Castle NY | 12,360 | $208K | 3.8% | 3.1% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 124 | Hastings-on-Hudson NY | 8,440 | $194K | 2.3% | 4.1% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 734 | South Abington Township PA | 9,624 | $114K | 2.9% | 5.0% | 9% | A− |
| 735 | Bonita CA | 12,652 | $119K | 7.5% | 4.8% | 2% | A− |
| 736 | Great Neck NY | 11,141 | $138K | 6.6% | 6.7% | 6% | A− |
| 737 | Pleasant Hills PA | 8,212 | $102K | 4.8% | 5.1% | 6% | A− |
| 738 | West Earl Township PA | 8,407 | $98K | 2.6% | 5.3% | 7% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,507 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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 Great Neck, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
Great Neck and the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Great Neck workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great Neck | – | A− | A+ | 39 min | $137,981 |
| Kings Point | under 1% | A+ | A+ | 30 min | $211,299 |
| Great Neck Gardens | under 1% | — | — | 36 min | — |
| Kensington | under 1% | A | A+ | 42 min | $220,625 |
| Saddle Rock Estates | under 1% | — | — | 26 min | — |
| Manhasset | under 1% | — | — | 34 min | — |
| Saddle Rock | under 1% | A+ | A+ | 38 min | $175,625 |
| Great Neck Estates | under 1% | A+ | A+ | 34 min | $237,788 |
Same-state neighbors only. Great Neck Gardens, Saddle Rock Estates and Manhasset: 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 Great Neck’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 Great Neck: questions
What is the median household income in Great Neck?
$137,981 (±$19,396) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Great Neck?
6.6%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Great Neck?
39 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Great Neck work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New York City (53%, 14 mi), North Hempstead (23%, 3 mi), Hempstead (5%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Great Neck walkable?
Great Neck is among the most walkable U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 15.8 out of 20, and 38% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Great Neck without a car?
31% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 80% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Great Neck, from the people who make the trip.
More of Great Neck
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.