[2] It is an unincorporated area in the Town of Hempstead and is represented by Councilman Edward Ambrosino.

West Hempstead first appeared on maps as the name of a Long Island Railroad station in 1893.

Its name is derived from the community's first four little league teams: Eagles, Cardinals, Hawks, and Orioles.

[6] In 2001, residents of West Hempstead held a nonbinding referendum on renaming the community.

[8] West Hempstead is easily accessed from the Southern State Parkway at Exit 17N.

Pine Stream runs through the center of West Hempstead, feeding into Halls Pond.

In 2017, the West Hempstead CDP population had an approximately even number of males (9,922) and females (9,919).

West Hempstead, along with adjoining Franklin Square has a sizable Orthodox Jewish population that counts seven synagogues[13] and the Hebrew Academy of Nassau County elementary school among its local institutions.