Long Island's bullish data on poverty, income mask deep financial hardship, advocates say

Long Island's 2024 poverty rate was far below the state's and the nation's, a longtime pattern, and median household incomes in Nassau and Suffolk were far higher as well, but advocates said the data masks the true nature of poverty on the Island, where many residents struggle under the weight of high costs in housing, food and child care.

Nassau County's poverty level last year was 5.6%, basically unchanged from 5.4% the year before, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey 1-year estimates released publicly Thursday. In Suffolk, the 2024 poverty rate was 6.5%, also generally unchanged from 2023's rate of 6.8%.

New York State's 2024 poverty rate was 14% and the nation's, released Tuesday, was 10.6%.

Long Island's median household income, according to the survey, was far higher in 2024 than national and state levels: $143,144 for Nassau, statistically unchanged from $145,727 in 2023. Suffolk's median was $126,863 in 2024, statistically the same as $127,689 the year before. The national median income was $83,730 in 2024; and New York State's was $85,820, according to bureau estimates.

Behind the numbers

"This data come out and every year we say the same thing," said Richard Koubek, chair of the Suffolk County Legislature's Welfare to Work Commission. "Let's look at people between [the federal poverty rate] and [those making] $100,000. Look at the foreclosure rate on Long Island. It's enormous."

A July second quarter foreclosure report by Property Shark said, "Nassau County is [the] most active foreclosure market with 173 new filings." It said Suffolk, however, showed a decline. "In fact, Suffolk County’s 43% drop was the metro’s sharpest in Q2, resulting in 143 first-time filings for the market’s slowest quarter in two years."

Koubek pointed to a couple of studies the work commission did in 2012 and updated in 2022, as well as the United Way of Long Island's ALICE study, an acronym for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. The ALICE report focuses on those making more than the federal poverty level but don't earn enough to cover the cost of basic needs.

"It comes down to a consensus," Koubek said. "To pay for basic needs on Long Island, a family of four needs to earn $100,000. You can tweak it a little higher if there are two preschool kids who need child care." He pointed to what he considered the inadequacy of the federal poverty level, where the threshold in 2024 was $31,812 for a family of two adults and two children. The official poverty threshold, which does not consider regional cost differences, determines eligibility for certain government benefits.

A high-cost region

The 2025 ALICE study for Nassau and Suffolk found that, based on 2023 data, the "household survival budget" in Nassau for a family of two adults and two children was $109,452; and in Suffolk, $110,448. For a family of two adults with two children in child care, the cost rose: $133,380 in Nassau and $141,456 in Suffolk, according to United Way of Long Island's website. The agency said the survival budget "reflects the minimum cost to live and work in the current economy and includes housing, child care, food, transportation, health care, technology, and taxes. It does not include savings for emergencies or future goals like college or retirement."

Koubek said the federal poverty level needed to consider regional cost differences. "We're a high cost region and the government has done nothing about it, despite complaints."

Karen Boorshtein, president and CEO of Huntington-based Family Service League, said the human service agency helps about 50,000 people annually throughout Suffolk. What the agency is seeing, she said, is a rising tide of people in need. "We haven't seen it ease up," she said, adding: "There are pockets of affluence, but there are many, many pockets of poverty. Often, people are working two and three jobs to make ends meet ... Long Island definitely has a reputation of being more affluent, but there are many needs on Long Island."

John D. Cameron, chair of the Long Island Regional Planning Council, said the need is clear in people who seek out emergency assistance at food pantries. "I find [the numbers] startling," he said, noting the Island's two major food banks, Island Harvest and Long Island Cares, have pointed to increases in the number of people they serve.