A deeper dive into empty homes on Long Island

Like many other topics we cover, the theme of today’s data analysis is “it’s just not that simple.”

Our recent post on vacancy rates on Long Island implies that there is not a shortage of rental units available on Long Island. A vacancy rate of 4.6 percent for Nassau County and 6.2 percent for Suffolk County is lower than the long term U.S. rental vacancy rate of 7.36 percent, but higher than New York City.

But Nassau and Suffolk County cover a large area – the land area of Nassau County alone is larger than the entire nation of Singapore.

Because of this, we have to drill down one level deeper – to the different towns in both counties.

However, data for certain towns and cities was unavailable. The table we are exploring comes from the American Community Survey 1-year estimates and you can read about the ACS limitations here.

Towns in Nassau County

Towns in Suffolk County

Despite a Suffolk County rate of 6.2 percent, rates at the town level vary greatly, from a low of 3.4 percent (town of Babylon) to a high of 10.8 percent (town of Smithtown).

The Town of Smithtown has a vacancy rate that is three times higher than the Town of Babylon. But this does not necessarily mean a person will have three times the likelihood of finding an apartment in Smithtown over Babylon.

The census data we are using also does not make any distinctions between a luxury rental, a seniors-only rental, or a micro-apartment rental unit.

And vacancy rates could vary greatly between the various villages as well.

An area with few rental units could also skew vacancy rates. Think about it: 10 percent of 100 is 10 units, but 5 percent of 1,000 units is 50 units.