Photo: Team jib · CC BY-SA 3.0Wading River has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.4 for each
Home is the office for 17% of workers, next to 15% for New York as a whole. Wading River has 1,431 jobs, and 3,424 of its residents work somewhere. The average commute, 33 minutes each way, matches the New York norm.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Wading River at work: what stands out
Wading River and Brookhaven trade workers both ways
Brookhaven is the top workplace for Wading River residents (25%) and also where the most people who work in Wading River come from (52% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Wading River
71% of Wading River residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 51% of the jobs based in Wading River pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 94% 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.
25% of working residents work in Brookhaven
Where Wading River clocks in
25% of workers
16% of workers
15% 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.
What Wading River’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wading River, 2013 → 2023: 1,536 → 1,431. 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 Wading River’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who commutes out of Wading River, and who commutes in
On a workday 3,232 residents head out to work, 192 work right here, and 1,239 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,400 people are in Wading River on a workday afternoon, 24% 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.
About 33 minutes each way, about the NY average
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wading River workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,440 commuters (the 17% 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.
Where in the region Wading River works
About 21% 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.
25% of Wading River works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Wading River workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wading River | – | — | — | 33 min | $136,549 |
| Brookhaven | 25% | A− | A− | 32 min | $120,110 |
| East Shoreham | under 2% | — | — | 33 min | — |
| Calverton | under 2% | — | — | 28 min | — |
| Baiting Hollow | under 2% | — | — | 31 min | — |
| Ridge | under 2% | — | — | 36 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. East Shoreham, Calverton, Baiting Hollow and Ridge: Census-designated places inside larger towns, graded as part of them. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Brookhaven. Darker towns draw more of Wading River’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 Wading River: questions
What is the median household income in Wading River?
$136,549 (±$10,103) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wading River?
3.4%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wading River?
33 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 17% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wading River work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Brookhaven (25%, 10 mi), Riverhead (16%, 6 mi), New York City (15%, 62 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Wading River without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wading River, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wading River
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.