Bay Shore is a medium-sized coastal town (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of New York. With a population of 29,244 people and 14 associated neighborhoods, Bay Shore is the 50th largest community in New York.

Housing costs in Bay Shore are among some of the highest in the nation, although real estate prices here don't compare to real estate prices in the most expensive communities in New York.

Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 8.63% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

Bay Shore is also nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Such areas are often places that visitors and locals go for waterfront activities or taking in the scenery.

For the size of the town, public transportation in Bay Shore is quite heavily used. Mostly, people who use it for their daily commute are taking the train. For Bay Shore, the benefits are reduced air pollution and congestion on the highways.

The overall education level of Bay Shore citizens is substantially higher than the typical US community, as 29.74% of adults in Bay Shore have at least a bachelor's degree, and the average American community has 21.84%.

The per capita income in Bay Shore in 2022 was $40,727, which is middle income relative to New York, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $162,908 for a family of four. However, Bay Shore contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Bay Shore is an extremely ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Bay Shore home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. People of Hispanic or Latino origin are the most prevalent group in Bay Shore, accounting for 38.90% of the town’s residents (people of Hispanic or Latino origin can be of any race). The greatest number of Bay Shore residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Bay Shore include Irish, Italian, German, Polish, and Haitian.

In addition, Bay Shore has a lot of people living here who were born outside of the US (32.22%).

The most common language spoken in Bay Shore is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and French.