What is Billy Joel's hometown (where he was raised)?

Billy Joel's hometown, where he was raised, is Hicksville, New York. Although he was born in the Bronx, his family moved to Long Island when he was one, and he grew up in Hicksville in the town of Oyster Bay.

Joel's Long Island upbringing shaped both his identity and his musical story. He attended Hicksville High School and began taking piano lessons as a child, initially at his mother's insistence. He also played piano-bar jobs as a teenager while trying to establish himself as a musician.

A common mix-up is calling New York City his hometown because it was his birthplace. Another is naming Levittown: Joel lived in a Levitt-built home in the Hicksville area, and the neighboring suburb appears in stories about his childhood. Hicksville is the standard biographical answer.

His Long Island connection remained important throughout his career. The title of his debut album refers to Cold Spring Harbor, a hamlet near his hometown, and in 2023 a section of Audrey Avenue in Oyster Bay was ceremonially named Billy Joel Way.