Photo: Joe Mabel · CC BY-SA 3.0Hempstead has higher unemployment (9.2%) than 92% of U.S. towns
About one in ten work in Hempstead; the top destination outside it is Hempstead (32%, 5 miles). Jobs and income earn Hempstead B−; getting around on foot earns it A+. Working from home is the commute for 7% of workers, next to 15% for New York as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Hempstead at work: what stands out
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Hempstead
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Hempstead is better than 52% of U.S. towns, #397 of 758 in New York. Job access by car holds Hempstead’s grade up (among the top U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Hempstead could be anywhere from C+ to B.
Where people from Hempstead work
Where Hempstead clocks in
32% of workers
31% 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.
Hempstead by day and by night
On a workday 20,798 residents head out to work, 1,820 work right here, and 13,630 people come in from elsewhere.
About 53,000 people are in Hempstead on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
0.68 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.
The kinds of work in Hempstead
15,450 jobs are based in Hempstead.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hempstead, 2013 → 2023: 16,063 → 15,450. 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 Hempstead’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Hempstead takes about 33 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hempstead workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 25,599 commuters (the 7% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Hempstead
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.
Hempstead is among the most walkable U.S. towns
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Hempstead is among the most walkable U.S. towns, #21 of 758 in New York. Both inputs place Hempstead 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 27,624 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, 82% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 70.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, among the most 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). 23.7% of Hempstead households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 21% of Hempstead’s commuters take a bus or train.
Hempstead places 498th of 737 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 42,000 to 81,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 112 | Perinton NY | 46,823 | $112K | 4.8% | 3.3% | 15% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 124 | Webster NY | 45,309 | $94K | 5.1% | 2.7% | 15% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 137 | Lancaster NY | 45,075 | $89K | 5.2% | 2.4% | 15% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 496 | Carmichael CA | 76,948 | $86K | 12.6% | 7.3% | 7% | B− |
| 497 | Minot ND | 47,308 | $73K | 11.1% | 3.4% | 63% | B− |
| 498 | Hempstead NY | 59,819 | $90K | 14.4% | 9.2% | 8% | B− |
| 499 | Egg Harbor Township NJ | 48,435 | $97K | 9.4% | 8.2% | 15% | B− |
| 500 | Columbus IN | 52,655 | $77K | 11.3% | 4.7% | 56% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 737 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Hempstead, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
The towns around Hempstead
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Hempstead workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hempstead | – | B− | A+ | 33 min | $90,420 |
| Uniondale | under 1% | — | — | 33 min | — |
| Garden City | under 1% | A+ | A+ | 35 min | $244,152 |
| West Hempstead | under 1% | — | — | 36 min | — |
| South Hempstead | under 1% | — | — | 30 min | — |
| Baldwin | under 1% | — | — | 40 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Uniondale, West Hempstead, South Hempstead and Baldwin: 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 Hempstead’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 Hempstead: questions
What is the median household income in Hempstead?
$90,420 (±$12,760) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hempstead?
14.4%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hempstead?
33 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hempstead work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Hempstead (32%, 5 mi), New York City (31%, 17 mi), North Hempstead (10%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Hempstead walkable?
Hempstead is among the most walkable U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 15.1 out of 20, and 23% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hempstead without a car?
21% of commuters take transit and 24% of households have no car. 82% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hempstead, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hempstead
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.