Another notable thing is that Southold is an extremely popular destination for tourists and seasonal residents. So much of the population is seasonal such that the town’s population swells significantly during the vacation season, and drops again when the season ends. Because of this, much of the local economy is centered around tourism; some businesses may be operated only during the high season. During the low season, year-round residents will notice that the city is a substantially quieter place to live.
In addition, Southold is home to many people who could be described as "urban sophisticates". Urban sophisticates are educated, wealthy, executives and professionals, who have urbane tastes in books, food, and travel, whether they actually live in a big city, or choose to reside in a small town. In big or medium-sized cities, urban sophisticates tend to frequent art institutions such as opera, symphonies, ballet, live theatre, and museums.
Because of many things, Southold is a great place for families with children to consider. First of all, many other families with children live here, making Southold a place where both parents and children are more likely to develop social ties with other families, as well as find family-oriented services and community. The town’s good public school district and large population of college-educated adults provide an environment conducive to academic values. With regard to real estate, Southold has a high rate of owner-occupied single family homes, which tends to reflect stability in the local community. Finally, Southold’s overall crime rate is lower than average for the country.
Southold is also nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Such areas are often places that visitors and locals go for waterfront activities or taking in the scenery.
Despite being a small town, Southold has a lot of people using taxis to get to and from work every day. Most of these people on taxis are using it to get to good jobs in other cities.
If knowledge is power, Southold is a pretty powerful place. 51.76% of the adults in Southold have earned a 4-year college degree, masters degree, MD, law degree, or even PhD. Compare that to the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns.
The per capita income in Southold in 2022 was $73,710, which is wealthy relative to New York and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $294,840 for a family of four.
Southold is a very ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Southold home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Southold residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Southold also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 16.29% of the town’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Southold include Irish, German, Italian, English, and Polish.
Southold also has a high percentage of its population that was born in another country: 15.55%.
The most common language spoken in Southold is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Polish.
