Photo: Kosboot · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Southold earn more than those in 87% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 0.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 79.0 in New York City. Poverty touches 5.6% of residents, against 14.0% across New York. For jobs and income Southold is better than 57% of U.S. towns (B); for walkability it is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns (A).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Southold: the figures worth knowing
Southold’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Southold is New York City, 91 miles away as the crow flies. 16% of working residents (1,502) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Most jobs in Southold go to people who live here
Of the 7,326 jobs based in Southold, 45% are held by Southold residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Southold are quick
The average trip to work takes 27 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker. Time on the road ↓
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.
Why Southold gets the Jobs & income grade it does
Household income holds Southold’s grade up ($116,667, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (6.5%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Southold could be anywhere from B− to A−.
How far Southold’s workers travel
About 30% 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.
A workday in Southold: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 6,268 residents head out to work, 3,330 work right here, and 3,996 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.76 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
A commute of about 27 minutes in Southold
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Southold workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 8,487 commuters (the 21% 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.
16% of working residents work in New York City
Where Southold clocks in
16% of workers
6% 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.
65% of the jobs in Southold pay over $3,333 a month
7,326 jobs are based in Southold.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Southold, 2013 → 2023: 6,894 → 7,326. 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 Southold’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Southold
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 14.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 8.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 10,750 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 17% 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 0.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 43% 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). 4.5% of Southold households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 6% of Southold’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 17,000 to 33,000, Southold ranks 985th of 1,642 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 57 | Garden City NY | 23,043 | $244K | 3.0% | 3.9% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 96 | New Castle NY | 18,259 | $250K | 2.5% | 4.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 101 | Mineola NY | 21,376 | $138K | 5.3% | 3.2% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 983 | Altoona IA | 22,796 | $86K | 8.3% | 7.5% | 10% | B |
| 984 | Lochearn MD | 27,074 | $75K | 9.8% | 5.9% | 1% | B |
| 985 | Southold NY | 24,260 | $117K | 5.6% | 6.5% | 35% | B |
| 986 | Concord Township OH | 32,597 | $74K | 11.2% | 4.0% | 27% | B |
| 987 | West Puente Valley CA | 22,495 | $88K | 13.2% | 6.8% | 2% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,642 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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 Southold, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
Work in the towns next to Southold
The biggest share goes to Riverhead (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Southold workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southold | – | B | A | 27 min | $116,667 |
| East Hampton | under 2% | B | A | 22 min | $132,348 |
| Shelter Island | 2% | B− | A | 34 min | $133,967 |
| Riverhead | 6% | B | B+ | 28 min | $94,249 |
| Shelter Island Heights | under 2% | — | — | 17 min | — |
| Northville | under 2% | — | — | 18 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Shelter Island Heights and Northville: 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 Southold’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 Southold: questions
What is the median household income in Southold?
$116,667 (±$10,192) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Southold?
5.6%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Southold?
27 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 21% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Southold work?
35% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New York City (16%, 91 mi), Brookhaven (6%, 39 mi), Riverhead (6%, 24 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Southold walkable?
Southold is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and 14% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Southold without a car?
6% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Southold, from the people who make the trip.
More of Southold
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.