Report: Residents Struggling To Keep Financial Footing

By Carl Corry

ccorry@longislandergroup.com

Residents in the Town of Huntington are weighed down by heavy costs of living that make it difficult to save money and improve their lives, according to a new report that analyzed communities across Long Island.

The report, conducted by Reclaim New York, a Manhattan-based think tank, highlighted Huntington village as an area in which it is difficult for people to get by. A family of four earning the local median income of $118,222 per year is left with 4 percent, or about $4,500, of its income after taxes and basic expenses such as food, transportation and utility costs, the report said.

“It’s a reflection of how difficult it is to make it on Long Island today,” said Reclaim New York spokesman Doug Kellogg. “You have to go up to the very high income level, and even then you’re keeping a very low portion of your income.”

In Northport, families with the median $120,309 annual income are left with about 2 percent left, or $2,205, to pay for things like vacations and debt, the report said. 

In South Huntington, families earning the median $97,796 are left with 3 percent, or $2,477. In Centerport, median-income families earning $94,929 are actually left in the red 1 percent, or $657. In Commack, median-income families are left with 1 percent of their incomes to spare, or $1,200. And in the Half Hollow Hills area, the median-income family has $1,471, or 2 percent of their income left at the end of the year, the report said.

The report said single renters at lower income levels are at risk of sinking into savings or digging into debt, which is why they are often left to return home after college rather than go out on their own.

In the end, Kellogg said the report shows “the tax system is not working for anyone.”