Hempstead, New York

Area Profile

58,801 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Hempstead, in Nassau County.

61out of 100
Area Score
Top 47% of 2,944 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 44% of 3,904 published cities59
Schools2286th of 2,668 published cities23
Growth2284th of 2,973 published cities34
Housing affordability2855th of 4,223 published cities69
ClimateTop 46% of 4,223 published cities71
Physical resilienceTop 9% of 4,182 published cities93
AccessTop 14% of 4,226 published cities99
Economic stability2615th of 4,226 published cities54
The quick read

Residential permitting has slowed: 9 units authorized over the past twelve months, 36% below the prior year.

Natural-hazard exposure is lower than in most comparable published city profiles, placing Hempstead in the top 9% for physical resilience.

A major airport is 9 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
58,801
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$90,420
Top 25% nationally
Density
15,931/sq mi
3.7 sq mi of land
Median age
38.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Nassau County
New York
Metro area
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ
Nearest major airport
JFK
9 mi · John F Kennedy Intl
Median home value
$459,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.3% is lower than 51% of the 3,904 measured US cities.

Employment fell 0.5% over the past year, to 27,860 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$12,760$90,420Top 25%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,775$34,304Top 48%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate14.4%Top 38%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute35.4 minTop 15%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher21.5%Top 48%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment27,860Bottom 36%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)0.5%Top 41%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-0.5%Top 41%June 2026
Labor force29,100Bottom 36%June 2026
Labor force participation66.8%Top 28%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$86,310Top 17%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$61,430Top 19%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.6%Top 25%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.3%Bottom 49%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/067.13.3
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.3% in June 2026. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202490k75k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $90,420 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.
Largest occupations — New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides644,700$39,680
Retail Salespersons202,080$38,280
Registered Nurses197,740$119,720
Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners183,030$42,840
General and Operations Managers177,850$157,000
Cashiers173,830$35,950

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

26% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 42% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 16.1 students for every full-time teacher, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
12
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
16.1
across all schools here
Math proficiency
26.5%
Bottom 20% in New York
Reading proficiency
41.9%
Bottom 14% in New York
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL · charterACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL2,00316.3
HEMPSTEAD HIGH SCHOOLHEMPSTEAD UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT1,87928.0
EVERGREEN CHARTER SCHOOL · charterEVERGREEN CHARTER SCHOOL1,14414.0
ALVERTA B GRAY SCHULTZ MIDDLE SCHOOLHEMPSTEAD UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT74812.517%37%
RHODES ACADEMY OF HUMANITIES AND THE ARTSHEMPSTEAD UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT63115.8
LAWRENCE ROAD MIDDLE SCHOOLUNIONDALE UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT6238.710%45%
PROSPECT ELEMENTARY SCHOOLHEMPSTEAD UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT44155.1
BARACK OBAMA ELEMENTARY SCHOOLHEMPSTEAD UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT43913.737%45%
JACKSON MAIN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLHEMPSTEAD UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT43616.838%44%
DAVID PATERSON SCHOOLHEMPSTEAD UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT38817.616%27%
JOSEPH MCNEIL SCHOOLHEMPSTEAD UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT35915.011%21%
WILLIAM S COVERT SCHOOLROCKVILLE CENTRE UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT28611.087%88%

76.1% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against New York’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,622 takes 22% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 5.1 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Rent as a share of income
21.5%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
5.1×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,622
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$459,500
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income5.08Top 15%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate47.5%Bottom 8%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±63218,747Top 3%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$74$1,622Top 17%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$13,873$459,500Top 14%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income21.5%Top 32%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate8.7%Bottom 45%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
34/ 100
Ranks 2284 of 2,973 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing, measured from 2020 to 2025.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 1% since 2020, reaching 59,569 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before.

67% of recently permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

At 0.2 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
9
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.2
Bottom 11% nationally
Year over year
−36%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
66.7%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202460k58k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population.
Housing units permitted per year
202020212022202320242025226.0
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+100%).

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 84°F and January a low of 26°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 43.3 inches, including 25.9 inches of snow.

Air quality measures a median index of 31, in the Good band, and no day in the year passed 100.

20°40°60°80°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station NEW YORK JFK INTL AP, 8.8 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.1"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index54.02024 calendar year
Annual precipitation43.3"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall25.9"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low26°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high84°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months61991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 10002024 calendar year
Median air quality index31.02024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing43°F1991-2020 Normals
Air quality
Median air quality index
31
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
54
90th percentile index
Days above 100
0
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today. Air quality is measured rather than modelled, by EPA monitors, and published by county only where a monitor sits — roughly half the counties AreaProfile publishes have one, and the rest show nothing rather than an estimate. Air masses are regional, so a county reading describes the air over a place reasonably well, but it is still the county reading.

Physical risk

93 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are earthquake, hurricane and coastal flooding.

Ice stormModerate
Coastal floodingElevated
EarthquakeElevated
HurricaneElevated
LandslideModerate

Low or minimal exposure: winter weather, inland flooding, lightning, strong wind, heat wave, cold wave, tornado, wildfire, hail, drought.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Nassau County records 0.7 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 2.0 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 8.0 per 100,000 residents in Nassau County.

Homicide
0.7
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
2.0
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
8.0
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
6.1
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Nassau County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around Hempstead rather than Hempstead itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 9 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
John F Kennedy IntlJFK9 mi14,511 ft
Newark Liberty IntlEWR29 mi9,999 ft
New York Stewart IntlSWF61 mi11,817 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
61
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Other cities in New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
New YorkNew York County8,483,84464vs Hempstead
NewarkEssex County310,17849vs Hempstead
Jersey CityHudson County294,07861vs Hempstead
YonkersWestchester County209,97862vs Hempstead
PatersonPassaic County158,73543vs Hempstead
ElizabethUnion County137,30253vs Hempstead
Toms RiverOcean County94,956vs Hempstead
CliftonPassaic County89,37961vs Hempstead
New RochelleWestchester County82,76966vs Hempstead
Mount VernonWestchester County72,42756vs Hempstead
BayonneHudson County71,55354vs Hempstead
East OrangeEssex County70,09050vs Hempstead

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar yearAnnually, once a calendar year is complete

Profile recalculated August 30, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

ZIP codes in Hempstead

1 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
1155060,960$92,67762