Photo: Iracaz · CC BY-SA 3.0Most of Stony Brook commutes out: there are 0.6 jobs for every working resident
The trip to work takes 30 minutes on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. Employers in Stony Brook report 3,183 jobs for 5,780 working residents. Only 5% stay in Stony Brook for work; outside it, Brookhaven is the main destination (32%, 9 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Stony Brook stands out on work
Stony Brook’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Stony Brook is New York City, 46 miles away as the crow flies. 17% of working residents (1,004) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Stony Brook
69% of Stony Brook residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 40% of the jobs based in Stony Brook pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 95% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Young people hold many of the jobs here
34% of the jobs based in Stony Brook are held by workers 29 or younger, against 22% of Stony Brook’s own working residents. 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.
Where in the region Stony Brook works
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.
What Stony Brook’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Stony Brook, 2013 → 2023: 3,436 → 3,183. 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 Stony Brook’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Stony Brook quiets down on a workday
On a workday 5,481 residents head out to work, 299 work right here, and 2,884 people come in from elsewhere.
About 10,000 people are in Stony Brook on a workday afternoon, 20% 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 Stony Brook’s residents
Where Stony Brook clocks in
32% of workers
17% of workers
13% 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.
The daily trip from Stony Brook: about 30 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Stony Brook workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,035 commuters (the 20% 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.
Next door is work for 10% of Stony Brook
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Stony Brook workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stony Brook | – | — | — | 30 min | $174,872 |
| Stony Brook University | under 2% | — | — | 16 min | — |
| Smithtown | 10% | A | A− | 32 min | $152,636 |
| Head of the Harbor | under 2% | A+ | B+ | 29 min | $250,000+ |
| East Setauket | under 2% | — | — | 30 min | — |
| Old Field | under 2% | — | — | 23 min | — |
| St. James | under 2% | — | — | 29 min | — |
| Setauket | under 2% | — | — | 26 min | — |
| Lake Grove | under 2% | A− | A− | 39 min | $118,311 |
Same-state neighbors only. Stony Brook University, East Setauket, St. James and Setauket: Census-designated places inside larger towns, graded as part of them. Old Field: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Smithtown. Darker towns draw more of Stony Brook’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 Stony Brook: questions
What is the median household income in Stony Brook?
$174,872 (±$15,480) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Stony Brook?
6.5%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Stony Brook?
30 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Stony Brook work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Brookhaven (32%, 9 mi), New York City (17%, 46 mi), Islip (13%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Stony Brook without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Stony Brook, from the people who make the trip.
More of Stony Brook
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.