What Year-Round Living Is Actually Like in East Hampton and Amagansett
East Hampton Village and the neighboring hamlet of Amagansett carry a well-known public image built around summer: crowded Main Street sidewalks in August, seasonal rentals changing hands every week, and a reputation for wealth that traces back to an artist-colony boom in the final quarter of the 1800s. That image is real, but it describes a few months of the year, not the town that exists the other nine. The people who actually live here full-time skew considerably older than the seasonal crowd, the year-round population has been growing rather than shrinking, and the two places -- Village and hamlet -- have distinct year-round identities of their own that have little to do with the tourist-season version of either. This page separates the historical summer-colony story from the documented, current demographic reality of who lives here when the rentals empty out, using only verified figures and taking no side on any local land-use or preservation dispute.
Where the Summer-Colony Image Actually Comes From
East Hampton Village was established in 1648, when Puritan settlers laid out plantations around a wide common -- today's Main Street area -- on the plain north of Hook Pond, with home lots of 8 to 12 acres flanking the common and surrounding farmland divided into the Eastern Plain (Egypt Lane to Cross Highway), the Great Plain (Hook Pond to Lily Pond), and the Little Plain (Lily Pond to Georgica Pond). Historic structures from that era still stand, including Hook Mill, Gardiner Windmill, and the Home Sweet Home house, restored under the direction of Historic District Consultant Robert J. Hefner. None of that founding-era history has much to do with wealth or seasonal glamour -- it describes a farming settlement laid out in New England Puritan fashion.
The summer-colony reputation is a later addition. In the final quarter of the 1800s, artists discovered the area's agrarian landscape, and a summer colony developed around that discovery: modest shingled cottages went up near Ocean Avenue and Lily Pond Lane on the Great Plain, while sizable estates appeared on the Eastern Plain by the early 1900s. That roughly 130-year-old pattern -- artists and then wealthier seasonal residents building alongside a much older farming settlement -- is the actual origin of East Hampton's summer-colony identity, not a recent marketing invention.
Amagansett Has Its Own Story, Separate From East Hampton Village
Amagansett is a distinct hamlet with its own founding history, not simply an extension of East Hampton Village. It was settled in 1680 by families including Baker, Conklin, and Barnes, along with Dutch brothers Abraham and Jacob Schellinger, who arrived between 1680 and 1690. The name Amagansett derives from a Montaukett-language phrase meaning "place of good water." In the late 19th century, Procter & Gamble executives established the Devon Colony there, an exclusive enclave built around generational legacy and understated wealth rather than public display -- its properties rarely enter the public real estate market, and specific current pricing or ownership details are not publicly documented, so none are claimed here.
Amagansett's most historically significant single episode is separate from either the Devon Colony or East Hampton Village's estate history, and it is a fully resolved matter of record. Shortly after midnight on June 13, 1942, four Nazi saboteurs -- George John Dasch (39, the group's leader), Ernest Peter Burger (36), Heinrich Harm Heinck (35), and Richard Quirin (34) -- landed by German U-boat on the beach near Amagansett carrying explosives and incendiaries, part of a wartime sabotage operation. An unarmed Coast Guard patrolman spotted them; when offered a bribe he accepted it but reported the incident anyway, and the four escaped to New York City by train. Dasch had second thoughts and contacted the FBI on June 14, leading to his own custody on June 19 and the arrest of the other three by June 20. All eight saboteurs involved in the broader operation -- this group plus a separate four-man team that landed in Florida -- faced a military trial; six were executed at the District of Columbia Jail on August 8, 1942, while Dasch's sentence was commuted to 30 years and Burger's to life imprisonment. That outcome has been decided since 1942 -- it is settled history, not an open question.
Who Is Actually Here Once the Season Ends: The Numbers
The Town of East Hampton, which encompasses both East Hampton Village and Amagansett hamlet along with other areas, recorded a 2020 census population of 28,385, up from 21,457 in 2010. A July 2025 estimate put the town-wide population at 29,400, a 3.7% increase from the April 2020 count -- a year-round population that has been growing, not the shrinking, mostly-empty-off-season town the summer-only image might suggest. Town-wide population density in 2020 was 381.9 people per square mile, a figure consistent with a place that has real, if modest, year-round residential density rather than being purely seasonal housing stock.
Village-specific figures tell a more targeted story. East Hampton Village's 2024 population estimate was 1,297, with a 2026 projected estimate of 1,553 -- both third-party estimates rather than confirmed Census figures at the village level for those specific years, and worth treating with that caveat. The same source reported a 49.3% population change in the Village from 2019 to 2024, an annual rate of 9.9%. Village median household income was estimated at $106,250 in 2024, with a 3.4% poverty rate among families. Race and ethnicity in the Village were reported as 68.5% White, 25.8% Hispanic, and 2.6% two or more races.
The Age Gap: Why 57.5 Matters More Than It Sounds
The single figure that most undercuts the youthful, party-season image of East Hampton is the Village's median age: 57.5 years, as of the 2024 estimate. A median age in the high 50s describes an established, older year-round population -- closer to a retirement or empty-nest demographic than to the twenty- and thirty-something renters who dominate the summer rental market and the images that come with it. Someone moving here full-time is joining that older, settled resident base far more than the seasonal crowd photographed on Main Street in July.
That gap between who visits and who stays matters practically. Year-round services, school enrollment, local business hours, and community life in East Hampton and Amagansett are shaped by an older, smaller full-time population than the summer population implies, not by the volume of seasonal visitors. Anyone weighing a full-time move should ask the Village or Town directly about current school enrollment, senior services, and off-season business hours rather than assuming summer conditions carry through the rest of the year.
Village and Hamlet Are Not the Same Place to Live Year-Round
East Hampton Village and Amagansett hamlet are both part of the Town of East Hampton, but they are not interchangeable for a year-round resident. The Village's identity runs through its 1648 farming-settlement founding and the artist-colony-to-estate build-out that followed after the 1880s, concentrated around the historic common, the Eastern and Great Plains, and surviving landmarks like Hook Mill and the Home Sweet Home house. Amagansett's identity runs through its own 1680 founding by the Baker, Conklin, Barnes, and Schellinger families, the quiet, discretion-first Devon Colony built by Procter & Gamble executives, and a fully resolved wartime episode on its own beach in 1942.
For a prospective year-round resident, that distinction is worth taking seriously rather than treating "East Hampton" as one undifferentiated luxury brand covering both places. Village life centers on a historic, walkable core; Amagansett's Devon Colony section was built specifically to stay out of public view. Anyone comparing the two should visit each separately, in the off-season, and ask local officials and a local real estate agent about the practical differences in year-round community life, rather than relying on marketing language that treats the two as one thing.
Costs and Numbers We Are Not Going to Invent
This page does not state a specific current (2026) median home price, property tax rate, or flood insurance premium for East Hampton Village or Amagansett hamlet, because no such figure specific to either place was confirmed in the research behind this page. Given the age profile, income figures, and historical estate development described above, it is reasonable to expect year-round housing costs in this market to run well above many other Long Island communities, but a reasonable expectation is not a substitute for a current number.
Anyone seriously evaluating a year-round move should get current home prices, property tax rates, and flood insurance costs directly from a local real estate agent, the Town of East Hampton assessor's office, and a licensed insurance agent before making any financial decision. Nothing on this page is financial, tax, legal, or relocation advice.
Adding It Up: An Older, Growing, Two-Part Year-Round Community
What is confirmed here: the Town of East Hampton's year-round population grew from 21,457 in 2010 to 28,385 in 2020, and to an estimated 29,400 by July 2025, a 3.7% increase from 2020, at a town-wide density of 381.9 people per square mile. East Hampton Village specifically has a much older year-round population than its summer image suggests, with a 2024 median age of 57.5 years, a median household income estimate of $106,250, and a 3.4% family poverty rate. That year-round reality sits underneath -- and is genuinely distinct from -- a summer-colony identity dating to the 1880s in the Village and a discretion-first Devon Colony identity in Amagansett, plus Amagansett's own fully resolved 1942 wartime history.
The honest summary for someone considering a full-time move: East Hampton Village and Amagansett hamlet are two historically distinct places that happen to share a town government and a summer reputation, and the people who actually live there year-round are, on the available evidence, an older and steadily growing population rather than the seasonal crowd the name usually calls to mind. Visit both places across different seasons, ask the Town and Village directly about current population trends and services, and confirm current home prices, property taxes, and insurance costs with a local real estate agent and a licensed insurance agent before deciding. Nothing on this page is financial, tax, or relocation advice.
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Get a Free Agent Referral →Independent research. No ads. No sponsored listings. Data drawn from research on East Hampton Village and Amagansett hamlet, Town of East Hampton, New York. East Hampton Village established 1648, when Puritan settlers laid out plantations around a wide common (today's Main Street area) on the plain north of Hook Pond; home lots of 8-12 acres flanked the common, with surrounding farmland divided into the Eastern Plain (Egypt Lane to Cross Highway), Great Plain (Hook Pond to Lily Pond), and Little Plain (Lily Pond to Georgica Pond). Historic structures still standing include Hook Mill, Gardiner Windmill, and the Home Sweet Home house, restored under Historic District Consultant Robert J. Hefner's direction. In the final quarter of the 1800s, artists discovered the area's agrarian landscape, spurring development of a summer colony: modest shingled cottages near Ocean Avenue and Lily Pond Lane on the Great Plain, and sizable estates on the Eastern Plain by the early 1900s. Amagansett settled 1680; name derives from a Montaukett-language phrase meaning "place of good water"; early settlers included the Baker, Conklin, and Barnes families and Dutch brothers Abraham and Jacob Schellinger, who arrived between 1680 and 1690. In the late 19th century, Procter & Gamble executives established the Devon Colony, an exclusive enclave built around generational legacy and understated wealth rather than public display; its properties rarely enter public real estate markets and maintain price discretion, and no specific current Devon Colony property count, price, or named family beyond "Procter & Gamble executives" was confirmed, so none is stated here. Shortly after midnight on June 13, 1942, four Nazi saboteurs landed by German U-boat on the beach near Amagansett carrying explosives and incendiaries: George John Dasch (39, leader), Ernest Peter Burger (36), Heinrich Harm Heinck (35), and Richard Quirin (34). An unarmed Coast Guard patrolman spotted the group; offered a bribe, he accepted it but reported the incident anyway, and the saboteurs escaped to New York City by train. Dasch had second thoughts and contacted the FBI on June 14, identifying himself as "Pastorius," and was taken into custody June 19 after meeting with agents in Washington; his cooperation led to the arrest of the other three Long Island members by June 20. All eight saboteurs (this four-man team plus a second, separate four-man team that landed in Florida) faced a military trial; six were executed at the District of Columbia Jail on August 8, 1942, while Dasch's sentence was commuted to 30 years and Burger's to life imprisonment -- a fully resolved historical outcome, not an ongoing matter. Demographics: Town of East Hampton (encompassing both East Hampton Village and Amagansett hamlet, among others) 2020 census population 28,385; 2010 census population 21,457; July 2025 estimate 29,400 (up 3.7% from April 2020); town-wide population density 381.9 per square mile (2020). East Hampton Village specifically: 2024 population estimate 1,297; 2026 projected population estimate 1,553 (third-party estimates, not confirmed Census figures at the village level for these specific years); a 49.3% population change from 2019 to 2024 was reported by the same source, an annual rate of change of 9.9%; median household income (2024 estimate) $106,250; poverty rate 3.4% of families; median age 57.5 years; race/ethnicity 68.5% White, 25.8% Hispanic, 2.6% two or more races. No exact current (2026) home-price, property-tax-rate, or flood-insurance figure specific to East Hampton Village or Amagansett hamlet was found, and none is stated here. No official U.S. Census Bureau hamlet-level population figure for Amagansett specifically was found; only Town of East Hampton Census-confirmed figures and a third-party village-level estimate for East Hampton Village are used above, both explicitly flagged as such. This page does not reuse Montauk's lighthouse, Carl Fisher, or Camp Hero history, or Red Bank, New Jersey's Navesink River material. Confirm current population trends, home prices, property tax rates, and insurance costs directly with the Town of East Hampton, East Hampton Village, a local real estate agent, and a licensed insurance agent before making any relocation decision. Nothing on this page is financial, tax, or relocation advice.