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Data on this report is based on areas within the legal city boundary, outlined in black on the map. Any additional neighborhoods shown on the map are associated with the city by name and are included for reference only.

Staten Island, NY
Real Estate & Demographic Data






Staten Island profile


Living in Staten Island



Staten Island is a large coastal borough (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of New York. With a population of 495,747 people and 125 associated neighborhoods, Staten Island is the fifth largest community in New York.

Staten Island home prices are not only among the most expensive in New York, but Staten Island real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.

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

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 8.36% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. 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.

Staten Island is one of the most attractive larger cities for people who are young, single, educated, and upwardly-mobile career starters. This makes it a good place to live for young singles in their 20s and 30s and who have undergraduate or graduate degrees and are starting their professional careers. Although Staten Island is a large city, this demographic is significant enough that young professionals will find many others like themselves here, with really good opportunities for friendships, recreation, romance, and more.

Staten Island 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.

One downside of living in Staten Island is that it can take a long time to commute to work. In Staten Island, the average commute to work is 39.11 minutes, which is quite a bit higher than the national average. On the other hand, local public transit is widely used in the borough, so leaving the car at home and taking transit is often a viable alternative.

One of the benefits of being a big city like Staten Island is having a public transportation system, but in Staten Island the transit system is the mode of choice for lots of people getting to and from work every day. You will find many people using the bus for their daily commute, even though other transportation options exist. If you ask these commuters, many will tell you that not having to drive in the snarl of big city traffic is one of main reasons for leaving the car at home, or even not owning a car at all. With so many people taking the bus Staten Island benefits from a reduction in air pollution and traffic.

The citizens of Staten Island are very well educated compared to the average community in the nation: 35.33% of adults in Staten Island have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree.

The per capita income in Staten Island in 2018 was $43,199, which is upper middle income relative to New York and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $172,796 for a family of four. However, Staten Island contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Staten Island is an extremely ethnically-diverse borough. The people who call Staten Island home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Staten Island residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Staten Island also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 18.75% of the borough’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Staten Island include Italian, Irish, German, Polish, and Russian.

Foreign born people are also an important part of Staten Island's cultural character, accounting for 24.84% of the borough’s population.

The most common language spoken in Staten Island is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Chinese.