Another notable thing is that Southold is an extremely popular vacation destination. A significant portion of the population is seasonal. During the vacation season, the town experiences a large influx of people who take up residence in second homes they own in the area. As the vacation season ends, the population drops again, leaving behind a substantially quieter and smaller town.
In addition, Southold is home to many people who could be described as "urban sophisticates". Urban sophisticates are people who are both educated and wealthy, and thus tend to be older, richer, and more established than young professionals. "Urban sophisticates" is not just about being educated and well-off financially: it is a point of view and state of mind, one that you might call 'urbaneness'. But such people can and do regularly live in small towns, suburbs and rural areas, as well as in big cities. They read, support the arts and high-end shops, and love travel.
Because of many things, Southold is a very good place for families to consider. With an enviable combination of good schools, low crime, college-educated neighbors who tend to support education because of their own experiences, and a high rate of home ownership in predominantly single-family properties, Southold really has some of the features that families look for when choosing a good community to raise children. Is Southold perfect? Of course not, and if you like frenetic nightlife, it will be far from your cup of tea. But overall this is a solid community, with many things to recommend it as a family-friendly place to live.
One of the nice things about Southold is that it is nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Because of this, visitors and locals will often go to these areas to take in the scenery or to enjoy waterfront activities.
Even though Southold is a smaller town, it has many people who hop on public transportation – mostly taxis for their daily commute to work. Typically, these people are commuting to good jobs in the surrounding 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.
Foreign born people are also an important part of Southold's cultural character, accounting for 15.55% of the town’s population.
The most common language spoken in Southold is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Polish.
