Ronkonkoma, New York


Ronkonkoma is a hamlet and census-designated place on Long Island in the Town of Islip, New York, United States. The population of the CDP was 19,082 at the 2010 census. The Ronkonkoma post office has the ZIP Code 11779, and serves parts of several hamlets and CDPs adjacent to Ronkonkoma.
Since 1988, Ronkonkoma has been the end of electrification along the Long Island Rail Road's Main Line. The track between Hicksville and Ronkonkoma has for a long time been referred to as the Ronkonkoma Branch. In 2017, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the groundbreaking of a new $650 million development to create a Ronkonkoma Hub near the LIRR Line, similar to the hub in the neighboring Brookhaven.
Ronkonkoma was the terminus of the first road in the USA designed exclusively for automobiles, the Motor Parkway, constructed by a consortium of investors called the Long Island Motor Parkway, Inc., led by William Kissam Vanderbilt II.
Ronkonkoma is also home to Long Island MacArthur Airport, airport code ISP, which is owned and operated by the Town of Islip. The New York Air Route Traffic Control Center is located in Ronkonkoma.

Geography

Ronkonkoma is located at . According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of, of which is land and, or 4.07%, is water. The community is adjacent to Lake Ronkonkoma.

Economy

Vitamin maker Nature's Bounty is based in Ronkonkoma. The aerospace company Innoveering is also based in Ronkonkoma.

Demographics of the CDP

As of the census of 2000, there were 20,029 people, 6,550 households, and 5,200 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 2,450.4 per square mile. There were 6,660 housing units at an average density of 814.8/sq mi. The racial makeup of the CDP was 93.85% White, 0.90% African American, 0.06% Native American, 2.39% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 1.12% from other races, and 1.64% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.34% of the population.
There were 6,550 households out of which 38.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.5% were married couples living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.6% were non-families. 16.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.06 and the average family size was 3.43.
In the CDP, the population was spread out with 25.8% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 34.3% from 25 to 44, 24.7% from 45 to 64, and 7.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.1 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $87,896, and the median income for a family was $97,441.
Males had a median income of $50,594 versus $35,013 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $25,152. About 2.8% of families and 3.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.1% of those under age 18 and 6.5% of those age 65 or over.

Neighborhoods

Prior to 1960, the CDP belonged to the Ronkonkoma School District. After a vote, the district merged with the Oakdale-Bohemia School District in the neighboring communities of Oakdale and Bohemia, New York to create the Connetquot School District. There are three public elementary schools in Ronkonkoma, one middle school, and high school students attend Connetquot High School in Bohemia.

Notable people