Stony Brook is a somewhat small coastal town (ie. on the ocean or tidally-influenced rivers) located in the state of New York. With a population of 13,683 people and four constituent neighborhoods, Stony Brook is the 151st largest community in New York.

Stony Brook is a decidedly white-collar town, with fully 90.81% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Stony Brook is a town of professionals, sales and office workers, and managers. There are especially a lot of people living in Stony Brook who work in teaching (18.31%), office and administrative support jobs (13.82%), and sales jobs (12.68%).

Also of interest is that Stony Brook has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

In addition, Stony Brook is home to many people who could be described as "urban sophisticates." Urban sophisticates are people who are both educated and wealthy, and thus tend to be older, richer, and more established than young professionals. "Urban sophisticates" is not just about being educated and well-off financially: it is a point of view and state of mind, one that you might call 'urbaneness.' But such people can and do regularly live in small towns, suburbs and rural areas, as well as in big cities. They read, support the arts and high-end shops, and love travel.

Because of many things, Stony Brook is a very good place for families to consider. With an enviable combination of good schools, low crime, college-educated neighbors who tend to support education because of their own experiences, and a high rate of home ownership in predominantly single-family properties, Stony Brook really has some of the features that families look for when choosing a good community to raise children. Is Stony Brook perfect? Of course not, and if you like frenetic night life, it will be far from your cup of tea. But overall this is a solid community, with many things to recommend it as a family-friendly place to live.

The town is also nautical, which means that parts of Stony Brook are somewhat historic and bounded by the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and tidal rivers. Such areas are often places that visitors and locals go for waterfront activities or taking in the scenery.

One downside of living in Stony Brook, however, is that residents on average have to contend with a long commute, spending on average 30.82 minutes every day commuting to work.

As is often the case in a small town, Stony Brook doesn't have a public transportation system that people use for their commute.

Stony Brook Information and Demographics

Do you have a 4-year college degree or graduate degree? If so, you may feel right at home in Stony Brook. 54.53% of adults here have a 4-year degree or graduate degree, whereas the national average for all cities and towns is just 14.96%.

The per capita income in Stony Brook in 2000 was $35,247, which is wealthy relative to New York and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $140,988 for a family of four. However, Stony Brook contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

The people who call Stony Brook home come from a variety of different races and ancestries. The most prevalent race in Stony Brook is White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Stony Brook include Italian, Irish, German, Polish, English, and Russian.

The most common language spoken in Stony Brook is English. Some people also speak Chinese.