ShirleyNY
This town of 28,375 people was settled in 1952.
Is Shirley a good place to live?
Shirley’s midpoint rent is $2,056 a month, above both the New York town median ($1,101 a month) and the median of U.S. towns ($1,185 a month). 25% of the land in Shirley is conserved, against 5.2% in New York’s towns and 4.3% across U.S. towns. Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge, at 1,333 acres with 6.6 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. We don’t grade Shirley yet; the figures below are still real.
95% of working residents leave Shirley for work
Where Shirley’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum and 59 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Shirley. Close and well known come first.
38 mi Stadium & arenaNassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
36 mi Stadium & arenaYale Bowl
33 mi National Historic SiteSagamore Hill National Historic Site122K visitors a year
36 mi State parkJones Beach State Park
10 mi LandmarkCalverton National Cemetery
6 mi Park & preserveLong Island Central Pine BarrensPhoto credits
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum: iMatthew // talk //, Public domain · Yale Bowl: Kenneth Zirkel, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Sagamore Hill National Historic Site: Unknown, Public domain · Jones Beach State Park: Bjoertvedt, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Calverton National Cemetery: United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Public domain · Long Island Central Pine Barrens: Americasroof, CC BY-SA 3.0
Moving to Shirley: who provides what
Shirley 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Shirley.
Natural hazards: very low risk in Shirley, mostly inland flooding
The risk rating from FEMA for Shirley comes to 16 of 100. 63% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by hurricanes at 12%. Since 2005, Shirley has seen 20 flood insurance claims paid out.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Shirley has 0.4 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
6.5% of workers work from home in Shirley. Only 5% of working residents stay in Shirley for work; the rest commute out. This New York town had 4,654 jobs in 2023, up 712 from 2013. The mean commuting time in the town is 33 minutes.
| Shirley | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 33 minutes | 25 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $113,000 | $82,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 6.5% | 12% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 6.5% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Conservation land takes up 24.7% of Shirley
Shirley’s trail network density is 1.1 miles per square mile. In 10 parks and preserves, walkers have 13 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge | 6.6 mi | 1,333 |
| 2. Southaven County Park | 3.4 mi | 329 |
| 3. Shirley Marina County Park | 0.8 mi | 41 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
How healthy Shirley is
18% of Shirley adults have been diagnosed with depression. On the CDC’s 32 measures, Shirley is ahead of New York on 1 and behind on 7.
| Shirley | New York towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 37% | 36% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 21% | 23% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 34% | 35% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | Shirley | NY |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had a stroke | 3.1% | 3.4% |
| More smokers | 13.3% | 11.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
A home in Shirley is worth about $548K, on Zillow’s estimate
Values rose 4.9% in the 12 months to September 2026. The share of households in Shirley who own their home: 92%. Bidding over the asking price: 67% of homes sold in the town.
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Shirley
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of Shirley
About 5 of every 100 Shirley residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across New York.
Shirley’s neighbors
4 towns share a border with Shirley.
| Town | NY rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shirley | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Yaphank | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Mastic Beach | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Mastic | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Manorville | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Shirley, Yaphank, Mastic Beach, Mastic and Manorville aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Shirley with a neighbor →
Questions about Shirley
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Shirley, NY a good place to live?
We don’t grade Shirley yet; the figures below are still real.