Photo: DanTD · CC BY-SA 3.0How Medford works: jobs, income and commuting
Working residents average 32 minutes each way, about the same as across New York. Only 6% work in Medford itself; outside it, Brookhaven draws the most (31%, 3 miles). For 8% of workers, the job is at home, where New York as a whole has 15%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Medford apart on work
Commuting out of Medford: the destinations
Where Medford clocks in
31% of workers
17% of workers
17% 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.
Who commutes out of Medford, and who commutes in
On a workday 10,766 residents head out to work, 698 work right here, and 6,898 people come in from elsewhere.
About 21,000 people are in Medford on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
0.66 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 2024, primary jobs.
What work there is in Medford: 7,596 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Medford, 2014 → 2024: 7,951 → 7,596. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Medford’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Medford spends getting to work: about 32 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Medford workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 11,075 commuters (the 8% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Medford
About 17% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Medford and its neighbors
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Medford workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medford | – | — | — | 32 min | $128,192 |
| Yaphank | under 3% | — | — | 32 min | — |
| Coram | under 3% | — | — | 34 min | — |
| Holtsville | under 3% | — | — | 33 min | — |
| Gordon Heights | under 3% | — | — | 39 min | — |
| North Bellport | under 3% | — | — | 31 min | — |
| East Patchogue | under 3% | — | — | 30 min | — |
| Farmingville | under 3% | — | — | 32 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Yaphank, Coram, Holtsville, Gordon Heights, North Bellport, East Patchogue and Farmingville: 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 Medford’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 2024, 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 Medford: questions
What is the median household income in Medford?
$128,192 (±$12,456) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Medford?
7.1%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Medford?
32 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Medford work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Brookhaven (31%, 3 mi), Islip (17%, 13 mi), New York City (17%, 51 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Medford without a car?
8% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Medford, from the people who make the trip.
More of Medford
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.