Survey Shows Demographic Shifts in Farmingdale

A report released Tuesday reveals shifts in education levels, home ownership and ethnic breakdown of East Farmingdale, South Farmingdale and Village of Farmingdale residents.

The American Community Survey, which uses information from the U.S. Census Bureau, sifted through five years of data to obtain these figures.

The percentage of residents owning their own homes increased to 67.4 percent in Farmingdale Village and to 93.7 percent in South Farmingdale and decreased to 73.4 percent in East Farmingdale.

"That is very significant because county-wide owner occupancy is 83 percent, so most of Farmingdale is not really close to that," said Seth Forman,  chief planner for the Long Island Regional Planning Council. "There are many more rentals than owner occupied homes in East Farmingdale compared with the rest of the county and that would be consistent with an increase in blacks in that area, who are less likely to own homes."

East Farmingdale had a 4 percent increase in both Asian and African-American residents and a 6 percent decrease in white residents, which supports this home ownership trend. The racial demographics of Farmingdale Village and South Farmingdale remained largely unchanged. 

Forman also credited the home ownership drop to the ten percent decrease in married couple households in Farmingdale since 1990.

"The drop means you are getting more single family households which makes home ownership lower," he said.

Level of education increased in both East Farmingdale and South Farmingdale and  decreased slightly in Farmingdale Village. The survey said that East Farmingdale has the biggest jump in education numbers, with 8.5 percent more residents possessing a high school degree in 2005-2009 than in 2000.

The charts below outline these trends.

Education:
High School Degree
Bachelors+ Degree

89.4%
24.9%

Housing:
Owner-Occupied Homes
Renter-Occupied Homes

Demographics:
Total Population
African-American
Asian
Hispanic
White

Education:
High School Degree
Bachelors+ Degree

83.1%
30.3%

Housing:
Owner-Occupied Homes
Renter-Occupied Homes

Demographics:
Total Population
African-American
Asian
Hispanic
White

Education:
High School Degree
Bachelors+ Degree

92.5%
28%

Housing:
Owner-Occupied Homes
Renter-Occupied Homes

Demographics:
Total Population
African-American
Asian
Hispanic
White

15,360
.8%
3.1%
8.3%
93.6%

The American Community Survey figures are based on data collected over a five-year time period. The estimates represent the average characteristics of population and housing between January 2005 and December 2009 and do not represent a single point in time.