Photo: Iracaz · CC BY-SA 3.0Most of Rocky Point commutes out: there are 0.4 jobs for every working resident
Employers in Rocky Point report 2,745 jobs, against 6,707 working residents. Only 7% work in Rocky Point itself; outside it, Brookhaven draws the most (38%, 6 miles). 9% of workers work from home, against 15% across New York.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Rocky Point and work: the main findings
Rocky Point’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Rocky Point is New York City, 56 miles away as the crow flies. 15% of working residents (1,026) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Rocky Point
69% of Rocky Point residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 48% of the jobs based in Rocky Point pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 93% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Rocky Point empties out on a workday
About 9,400 people are in Rocky Point on a workday afternoon, 30% fewer than the 13,000 who live here: 6,200 head out to work and 2,200 come in. Day and night ↓
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.
How many miles Rocky Point commutes
About 20% 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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
The kinds of work in Rocky Point
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rocky Point, 2013 → 2023: 2,571 → 2,745. 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 Rocky Point’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Rocky Point on a workday afternoon
On a workday 6,211 residents head out to work, 496 work right here, and 2,249 people come in from elsewhere.
About 9,400 people are in Rocky Point on a workday afternoon, 30% fewer than live here.
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 towns that employ Rocky Point’s residents
Where Rocky Point clocks in
38% of workers
15% of workers
11% 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.
From Rocky Point, about 36 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Rocky Point workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,654 commuters (the 9% 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.
Work in the towns next to Rocky Point
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Rocky Point workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rocky Point | – | — | — | 36 min | $127,024 |
| Sound Beach | under 2% | — | — | 32 min | — |
| Shoreham | under 2% | — | — | 29 min | — |
| Middle Island | under 2% | — | — | 32 min | — |
| Ridge | under 2% | — | — | 36 min | — |
| Miller Place | under 2% | — | — | 33 min | — |
| East Shoreham | under 2% | — | — | 33 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Sound Beach, Middle Island, Ridge, Miller Place and East Shoreham: Census-designated places inside larger towns, graded as part of them. Shoreham: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Rocky Point’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 Rocky Point: questions
What is the median household income in Rocky Point?
$127,024 (±$12,944) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rocky Point?
2.9%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rocky Point?
36 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Rocky Point work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Brookhaven (38%, 6 mi), New York City (15%, 56 mi), Islip (11%, 21 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Rocky Point without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Rocky Point, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rocky Point
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.