Ronkonkoma is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) mostly in the Town of Islip, with a small eastern portion in the Town of Brookhaven in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 18,955 at the time of the 2020 census. The Ronkonkoma post office has the ZIP Code 11779, and serves parts of several hamlets and CDPs adjacent to Ronkonkoma. The hamlet is also home to Long Island MacArthur Airport, which is owned and operated by the Town of Islip. The New York Air Route Traffic Control Center is located at the airport.

History

The name "Ronkonkoma" comes from the nearby Lake Ronkonkoma, which in turn comes from an Algonquian expression meaning "boundary fishing-lake", also earlier written as "Raconkumake" and "Raconkamuck." Since 1988, Ronkonkoma has been the end of electrification along the Long Island Rail Road's Main Line. The track between Hicksville and Ronkonkoma is known 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 neighboring Brookhaven. Ronkonkoma was the terminus of the first road in the United States designed exclusively for automobiles, the Vanderbilt Motor Parkway, constructed by a consortium of investors called the Long Island Motor Parkway, Inc. led by William Kissam Vanderbilt II.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 21.1 km2, of which 0.9 sqkm, or 4.07%, is covered by water. The community is adjacent to Lake Ronkonkoma.

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States Census, there were 18,955 people and 6,150 households residing in the CDP. The racial makeup of the CDP was 77.7% White, 4.5% African American, 7.7% Asian, 5.1% from other races, and 5.0% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 20.9% of the population. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 20.1% under the age of 18, 6.1% under the age of five, and 13.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median income for a household in the CDP was $114,216, while the per capita income for the CDP was $41,792. About 3.5% of the population were below the poverty line.

Neighborhoods

Economy

Vitamin maker The Bountiful Company is based in Ronkonkoma. Northrop Grumman has a hypersonic test and manufacturing facility adjacent to the Long Island MacArthur Airport.

Education

Almost all of Ronkonkoma CDP is in Connetquot Central School District. Three public elementary schools are in Ronkonkoma, with one middle school, and high school students attend Connetquot High School in Bohemia. A portion of the CDP to the east is in Sachem Central School District. The CDP area also extends into Central Islip Union Free School District to the west, but that portion is taken up entirely by parts of the Connetquot River State Park. Prior to 1960, the Connetquot School District portion of the area 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.

Notable people

In popular culture