Riverhead is a medium-sized coastal town (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of New York. With a population of 14,993 people and six associated neighborhoods, Riverhead is the 128th largest community in New York. There's nothing like the smell of a brand new house, and in Riverhead, you'll find that a large proportion of houses were recently built. New growth in residential real estate is an indication that people are choosing to move to Riverhead, and putting down their money on brand new construction. Riverhead’s real estate is, on average, some of the newest in the nation. Riverhead does seem to be experiencing an influx of affluent people, because the median household income is $73,197.00.

Housing costs in Riverhead are among some of the highest in the nation, although real estate prices here don't compare to real estate prices in the most expensive communities in New York.

One of the nice things about Riverhead 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.

In terms of college education, the citizens of Riverhead rank slightly lower than the national average. 16.86% of adults 25 and older in Riverhead have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree, while 21.84% of adults have a 4-year degree or higher in the average American community.

The per capita income in Riverhead in 2022 was $38,691, which is middle income relative to New York, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $154,764 for a family of four. However, Riverhead contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Riverhead is an extremely ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Riverhead home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Riverhead residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Riverhead also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 32.56% of the town’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Riverhead include Italian, Polish, German, Irish, and English.

In addition, Riverhead has a lot of people living here who were born outside of the US (28.99%).

The most common language spoken in Riverhead is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Polish.