Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Settled in 1889, this town now has 1,899 residents.
Great River’s going rate for rent is $2,750 a month, above both the New York town median ($1,101 a month) and the median of U.S. towns ($1,185 a month). Only 10 of the 759 New York towns we compare have a lower share of working residents who work in town than Great River. 68% of the land in Great River is conserved, against 5.2% in New York’s towns and 4.3% across U.S. towns. The biggest place to walk is Heckscher State Park, 1,524 acres with 13.7 miles of trail. We don’t grade Great River yet; the figures below are still real.
1,489 counted in 2010 and 2,005 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
Census counts: 1,546 in 2000, 2,005 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1850 and 5 maps from 1902 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Great River. Close and well known come first.
Big draw36 mi Stadium & arenaCiti Field
Big draw36 mi Stadium & arenaEtihad Park
36 mi City parkFlushing Meadows–Corona Park
23 mi Stadium & arenaNassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
36 mi LandmarkUnisphere
39 mi Zoo & aquariumBronx ZooCiti Field: Chris6d, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Etihad Park: Bananza76, CC0 · Flushing Meadows–Corona Park: Flapane, Public domain · Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum: iMatthew // talk //, Public domain · Unisphere: Beyond My Ken, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Bronx Zoo: Stavenn, CC BY-SA 3.0
Great River is unincorporated, so Suffolk County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Aug 3, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Great River.
Among households in Great River, 67% own their home.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
23 miles of trail in 5 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Heckscher State Park | 13.7 mi | 1,524 |
| 2. Bayard Cutting Arboretum State Park | 6.5 mi | 405 |
| 3. Bayard Cutting Arboretum | 1.2 mi | 33 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The FEMA risk score in Great River is 15 of 100. The town has had 22 paid flood insurance claims since 1983. Expected losses in Great River break down as 62% from inland flooding and 13% from hurricanes.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
In July, afternoons reach 83°; in January, nights fall to 25°, and about 32 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
For most workers, Great River is a place to come home to: only 2% work in town. Its median household income stands at $136,000. The top destinations are Islip (29%), New York (20%) and Babylon (8%). In Great River, 5.4% of residents live below the poverty line.
| Great River | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $136,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 31 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 5.4% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
For adults in Great River, the share who smoke cigarettes is 7.9%. Against the New York average, Great River comes out ahead on 17 CDC measures out of 32, and behind on 1.
| Great River | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 32% | 33% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 7.9% | 13% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 21% | 23% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 17% |
| What stands out | Great River | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.6% | 17.2% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 3.9% | 7.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.1% | 7.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
4 within 15 miles of the center of Great River
About 8 of every 100 Great River residents are enrolled in college, about the same as New York.
Coastal flooding makes up 10% of the storm damage FEMA expects here.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA · OpenStreetMap
Hamlet and census-designated place in New York, United States
Great River is a suburban hamlet and CDP in the Town of Islip in Suffolk County, New York, United States. It is situated approximately 50 miles (80 km) (55 mi driving) east of New York City on the South Shore of Long Island, adjoining the Great South Bay, protected from the Atlantic Ocean by Fire Island. Great River's name is a translation of "Connetquot," an Algonquian word for "Great River." Prior to the 1900s Great River was primarily home to wealthy families on mansion estates. The population was 2,005 at the time of the 2020 census. Great River's buildings include a New York City–style steak house in a turn of the century (20th) Public house, a delicatessen, a rural delivery post offic…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Great River.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great River | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Islip | #178 | A− | D− | — | A− | A− |
| East Islip | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Brookhaven | #295 | B | D− | — | B | A− |
| Oakdale | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| North Great River | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Islip and Brookhaven report no FBI crime data of their own. Great River, East Islip, Oakdale and North Great River aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Great River with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
We don’t grade Great River yet; the figures below are still real.
2 notable people were born here, including Tim Melia and Bronson M. Cutting.
