Babylon Town, with its over 210,000 residents, is the sixth largest township in the State of New York. Just 53 square miles in size, Babylon is the most densely populated town in Suffolk County; it is the western most town in the state's eastern most county. Centrally located on Long Island's south shore, Babylon is less than one hour from downtown New York City to the west...and one hour to one of the world's premier summer playgrounds, the Hamptons, to the east.

Like most of Long Island, Babylon's economy is service oriented, with an emphasis on high tech service companies, retail, banking, and manufacturing. Construction and transportation also play a major role in Babylon's economy. The state-operated, 527-acre Republic Airport is located in the Town of Babylon. The airport employs over 500 workers, has two runways of 6,827 feet and 5,516 feet, and embarks and disembarks over 25,000 passengers annually.

The State University of New York at Farmingdale, with 11,000+ undergraduates, is located within the town. New Horizons Business Center in Amityville (1.12 million square feet), Price Parkway in Farmingdale (1.36 million square feet), and Marcus Industrial Park in Deer Park (800,000 square feet) are among the region's top 20 industrial centers.

The Great South Bay, which separates the mainland from the barrier beaches, serves as a source of income for hundreds of baymen and fishermen. Babylon is the only Long Island municipality with three town ocean beaches (Overlook, Gilgo and Cedar) and several town-operated marinas.

Babylon is one of 15 town and city municipalities located in Long Island, the largest island in the continental United States. The New York City boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn are physically part of Long Island, but as a political and economic entity, Long Island refers to the counties of Nassau and Suffolk. Long Island ranks first nationally in: percentage of households with effective buying incomes (EBI) over $50,000 and $150,000; average EBI ($64,818) and median EBI ($54,334) of the twenty largest US markets; and retail sales per household. There are 1.2 cars for every two people on Long Island, and the region boasts the highest percentage of single-family, owner-occupied homes in the nation (76%).

The region as a whole is characterized by small businesses - of the more than 92,000 companies located in Nassau and Suffolk counties, only 1.5% employ more than 100 people. Over 80% of the people who live on Long Island also work on Long Island.

Demographics

What happens when you blend a world-class workforce, a university, pristine beaches and golf courses, three industrial centers, and one airport in a region that leads the nation in retail sales per household and average household wealth?...

You get the Town of Babylon, the economic heartbeat of Long Island, New York.

Babylon is one of the more demographically diverse municipalities on Long Island. While many of the townships of Long Island are dominated by one ethnic group or another, as a unit, Babylon's demographics are clearly multi-cultural.

According to the 2000 United States Census, Babylon has an average of 3.04 persons living in approximately 67,595 households. As the most densely populated town in Suffolk County, there are over 3,970 people per square mile living in Babylon's 53 square miles.

The average family income is $60,000, with almost 20% of town households earning more than $75,000 annually. Approximately 81% of the town's residents are Caucasian, 14% African American, and 5% Asian, Hispanic or Multiracial. The largest ethnic group based on ancestry in Babylon are Italians, with over 64,680 residents claiming some or all Italian ancestry. People with all or some Irish ancestry number approximately 47,000; over 41,400 residents attest to German ancestry, and over 29,000 Babylon residents are African American.

According to recent population survey data provided by the Long Island Almanac, approximately 42% of Babylon's adult population is college educated. Of its workforce, 27.4% hold executive, administrative, or managerial positions, 13.4% are in sales, 18.4% are in administrative/clerical support jobs, and 40.6% are skilled craftspersons, service workers or unskilled labor. Current service in the Armed Forces accounts for .02% of Babylon's workforce.

Babylon is a young town, with a median age of 36. Forty one percent of households in the township have children under the age of 18. Similar to the rest of Long Island, three quarters of Babylon residents own their own home.

Statistics