Ocean Shores is a somewhat small coastal city (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of Washington. With a population of 7,549 people and just one neighborhood, Ocean Shores is the 120th largest community in Washington.
Ocean Shores is a decidedly white-collar city, with fully 86.57% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Ocean Shores is a city of service providers, sales and office workers, and professionals. There are especially a lot of people living in Ocean Shores who work in office and administrative support (20.78%), healthcare suport services (12.47%), and food service (9.82%).
Also of interest is that Ocean Shores has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.
A relatively large number of people in Ocean Shores telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 17.02% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.
Another notable thing is that Ocean Shores is an extremely popular destination for tourists and seasonal residents. So much of the population is seasonal such that the city’s population swells significantly during the vacation season, and drops again when the season ends. Because of this, much of the local economy is centered around tourism; some businesses may be operated only during the high season. During the low season, year-round residents will notice that the city is a substantially quieter place to live.
It is a fairly quiet city because there are relatively few of those groups of people who have a tendency to be noisy. (Children, for example, often can't help themselves from being noisy, and being parents ourselves, we know!) Ocean Shores has relatively few families with children living at home, and is quieter because of it. Renters and college students, for their own reasons, can also be noisy. Ocean Shores has few renters and college students. But the biggest reason it is quieter in Ocean Shores than in most places in America, is that there are just simply fewer people living here. If you think trees make good neighbors, Ocean Shores may be for you.
Ocean Shores is also nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Quite often, nautical areas such as these attract visitors and locals who come to enjoy the scenery and various waterfront activities.
As is often the case in a small city, Ocean Shores doesn't have a public transportation system that people use for their commute.
The citizens of Ocean Shores are slightly better educated than the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns, with 22.21% of adults in Ocean Shores having a bachelor's degree or advanced degree.
The per capita income in Ocean Shores in 2022 was $38,604, which is middle income relative to Washington, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $154,416 for a family of four. However, Ocean Shores contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Ocean Shores is a somewhat ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Ocean Shores home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Ocean Shores residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Ocean Shores include Irish, German, English, Norwegian, and Dutch.
The most common language spoken in Ocean Shores is English. Other important languages spoken here include Polish and Spanish.
The way a neighborhood looks and feels when you walk or drive around it, from its setting, its buildings, and its flavor, can make all the difference. This neighborhood has some really cool things about the way it looks and feels as revealed by NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research. This might include anything from the housing stock to the types of households living here to how people get around.
Do you like a coastal setting? If so, this neighborhood may be to your liking. The neighborhood is on the ocean, a bay, or inlet. Often such coastal places have amenities and recreational activities on the waterfront that are attractive to residents and visitors alike. In addition to being coastal, is a very nautical neighborhood, meaning that it is somewhat historic, walkable, densely populated and on the water. This gives the neighborhood a very nautical feel, with some seaside and shipping feel, which some may really enjoy the sights and sounds of.
In addition, vacant homes and apartments are a significant characteristic of this neighborhood. In fact, with 35.2% of the residential real estate vacant, the neighborhood claims the distinction of having a higher vacancy rate than 96.8% of the neighborhoods in America. This can either be because much of the property is seasonally occupied, like in many vacation areas, or that much of the real estate is more permanently abandoned.
Whether walking, biking, riding, or driving, the length of one's commute is an important factor for one's quality of life. The neighborhood stands out for its commute length, according to NeighborhoodScout's analysis. Long commutes can be brutal. They take time, money, and energy, leaving less of you for yourself and your family. The residents of the neighborhood unfortunately have the distinction of having, on average, a longer commute than most any neighborhood in America. 12.3% of commuters here travel more than one hour just one-way to work. That is more than two hours per day. This percentage with two-hour + round-trip commutes is higher than NeighborhoodScout found in 97.4% of all neighborhoods in America.
If your dream is to be able to ride your bike to work each day, look no further than this unique neighborhood. With 2.6% of residents in the neighborhood commuting on a bicycle to and from work daily, this neighborhood has more bicycle commuters than 95.0% of all neighborhoods in the U.S., according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis.
If you're planning where to retire, the neighborhood in Ocean Shores is a great option to consider. According to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive retirement dream area analysis, it's peaceful and quiet, has above average safety ratings compared to other neighborhoods in WA, offers a wide range of housing options, and has already attracted an enviable mix of college educated seniors. This neighborhood ranks as better for retirement living than 88.1% of the neighborhoods in Washington. If you are considering retiring to Washington, this is a good neighborhood to look at.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Finnish and Dutch ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 3.8% of this neighborhood's residents have Finnish ancestry and 4.8% have Dutch ancestry.
There are two complementary measures for understanding the income of a neighborhood's residents: the average and the extremes. While a neighborhood may be relatively wealthy overall, it is equally important to understand the rate of people - particularly children - who are living at or below the federal poverty line, which is extremely low income. Some neighborhoods with a lower average income may actually have a lower childhood poverty rate than another with a higher average income, and this helps us understand the conditions and character of a neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Ocean Shores are lower-middle income, making it a below average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 66.2% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 14.9% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 60.9% of U.S. neighborhoods.
A neighborhood is far different if it is dominated by enlisted military personnel rather than people who earn their living by farming. It is also different if most of the neighbors are clerical support or managers. What is wonderful is the sheer diversity of neighborhoods, allowing you to find the type that fits your lifestyle and aspirations.
In the neighborhood, 33.2% of the working population is employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is executive, management, and professional occupations, with 31.3% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (22.0%), and 13.4% in manufacturing and laborer occupations.
The languages spoken by people in this neighborhood are diverse. These are tabulated as the languages people preferentially speak when they are at home with their families. The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 92.2% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Polish and Spanish.
Culture is shared learned behavior. We learn it from our parents, their parents, our houses of worship, and much of our culture – our learned behavior – comes from our ancestors. That is why ancestry and ethnicity can be so interesting and important to understand: places with concentrations of people of one or more ancestries often express those shared learned behaviors and this gives each neighborhood its own culture. Even different neighborhoods in the same city can have drastically different cultures.
In the neighborhood in Ocean Shores, WA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Irish (19.9%). There are also a number of people of German ancestry (18.1%), and residents who report English roots (10.7%), and some of the residents are also of Norwegian ancestry (7.7%), along with some Dutch ancestry residents (4.8%), among others.
Even if your neighborhood is walkable, you may still have to drive to your place of work. Some neighborhoods are located where many can get to work in just a few minutes, while others are located such that most residents have a long and arduous commute. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (55.0% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America. However, there is also a significant group of residents (12.3%) who commute over an hour in each direction.
Here most residents (58.3%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work (12.5%) and 9.5% of residents also hop out the door and walk to work for their daily commute. In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.