Photo: Doc Searls · CC BY 2.0Households in Sands Point earn more than in almost any other U.S. town
Household incomes here are among the highest in the country. Below the poverty line: 3.4% of residents, where New York as a whole has 14.0%. For jobs and income Sands Point is better than 95% of U.S. towns (A+); for walkability it is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (A−).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Sands Point: the gist
Sands Point workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 51 minutes each way, against 33 across New York. Over a year that’s about 391 hours of commuting, 138 more than the state’s typical worker. Every town next door averages less (33 to 41 minutes). Time on the road ↓
More than half of Sands Point works in New York City
559 working residents, 53%, have their main job in New York City, 18 miles away. That’s 53 times as many as work in Sands Point itself. The commute map ↓
A lot of Sands Point works from home
27% of Sands Point workers work from home, against 15% across New York. Time on the road ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Sands Point
76% of Sands Point residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 54% of the jobs based in Sands Point pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 99% 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.
The figures behind Sands Point’s Jobs & income grade
Household income holds Sands Point’s grade up ($250,000+, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (4.5%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
The Census reports Sands Point’s median household income as $250,000+, the top of its scale; the grade ranks it as tied with the 111 other graded places at that ceiling.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Sands Point could be anywhere from A− to A+.
The trip to work from Sands Point: about 51 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 16.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sands Point workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 902 commuters (the 27% 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.
53% of working residents work in New York City
Where Sands Point clocks in
53% of workers
6% 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.
Sands Point is a services town
519 jobs are based in Sands Point.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sands Point, 2013 → 2023: 596 → 519. 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 Sands Point’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The workday shuffle in and out of Sands Point
On a workday 1,046 residents head out to work, 14 work right here, and 505 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,200 people are in Sands Point on a workday afternoon, 20% fewer than live here.
0.49 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Sands Point
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.
Sands Point is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 36.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 6.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,236 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 18% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 5.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 86% 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). 0.6% of Sands Point households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 36% of Sands Point’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Sands Point ranks: 194th of 4,969 U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Old Brookville NY | 2,098 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | East Williston NY | 2,616 | $215K | 2.3% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 10 | Laurel Hollow NY | 1,949 | $250K | 3.5% | 2.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 192 | Johnson Creek WI | 3,435 | $101K | 4.3% | 0.3% | 10% | A+ |
| 193 | Sixteen Mile Stand OH | 3,666 | $126K | 6.6% | 1.9% | 1% | A+ |
| 194 | Sands Point NY | 2,764 | $250K | 3.4% | 4.5% | 1% | A+ |
| 195 | Adamstown PA | 1,953 | $118K | 3.5% | 2.7% | 1% | A+ |
| 196 | St. Jacob Township IL | 2,880 | $121K | 2.9% | 1.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,969 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Sands Point, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
Work in the towns next to Sands Point
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Sands Point workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sands Point | – | A+ | A− | 51 min | $250,000+ |
| Port Washington | under 1% | — | — | 35 min | — |
| Manorhaven | under 1% | A | A+ | 33 min | $105,486 |
| Port Washington North | under 1% | A+ | A+ | 41 min | $136,389 |
Same-state neighbors only. Port Washington: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Sands 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.
- A ceiling on income. The Census stops at $250,000+, so the true median may be higher.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Sands Point: questions
What is the median household income in Sands Point?
$250,000+ (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sands Point?
3.4%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sands Point?
51 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 27% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sands Point work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New York City (53%, 18 mi), North Hempstead (20%, 4 mi), Hempstead (6%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sands Point walkable?
Sands Point is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 6.3 out of 20, and 36% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sands Point without a car?
36% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sands Point, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sands 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. 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.