Orient's winter population swells to well over 1000 in the summer months. Other than a post office, a gas station, a country store, and a few seasonal tourist stands, there is no center of commerce, hence its residents depend on nearby Greenport for every-day necessities. Many make a living at the US Government's Department of Agriculture lab on nearby Plum Island, a 5-minute boat ride from Orient Point across Plum Gut, or at businesses further west. Truck farming and commercial fishing industry remain as well. Definitely New England in style and flavor, the hamlet of Orient has homes built over the last three centuries. Locals joke that a "new house" is anything built since World War II.