Gulf Shores is a medium-sized coastal city (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of Alabama. With a population of 16,193 people and four associated neighborhoods, Gulf Shores is the 47th largest community in Alabama.

Gulf Shores home prices are not only among the most expensive in Alabama, but Gulf Shores real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 12.29% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. 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.

The city is relatively quiet, having a combination of lower population density and few of those groups of people who have a tendency to be noisy. For example, Gulf Shores has relatively fewer families with younger children, and/or college students. Combined, this makes Gulf Shores a pretty quiet place to live overall. If you like quiet, you will probably enjoy it here.

Gulf 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.

Being a small city, Gulf Shores does not have a public transit system used by locals to get to and from work.

The citizens of Gulf Shores are very well educated compared to the average community in the nation: 38.17% of adults in Gulf Shores have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree.

The per capita income in Gulf Shores in 2022 was $41,513, which is wealthy relative to Alabama, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $166,052 for a family of four. However, Gulf Shores contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

The people who call Gulf Shores home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Gulf Shores residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Gulf Shores include German, Irish, English, Italian, and Scottish.

The most common language spoken in Gulf Shores is English. Other important languages spoken here include Italian and Spanish.