Fossil is a tiny city located in the state of Oregon. With a population of 452 people and just one neighborhood, Fossil is the 207th largest community in Oregon. Much of the housing stock in Fossil was built prior to World War II, making it one of the older and more historic cities in the country.
Unlike some cities, Fossil isn’t mainly white- or blue-collar. Instead, the most prevalent occupations for people in Fossil are a mix of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Fossil is a city of managers, service providers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Fossil who work in office and administrative support (20.37%), business and financial occupations (19.44%), and management occupations (12.96%).
Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 13.88% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. 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.
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!) Fossil 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. Fossil has few renters and college students. But the biggest reason it is quieter in Fossil than in most places in America, is that there are just simply fewer people living here. If you think trees make good neighbors, Fossil may be for you.
One of the benefits of Fossil is that there is very little traffic. The average commute to work is 13.00 minutes, which is substantially less than the national average. Not only does this mean that the drive to work is less aggravating, but noise and pollution levels are lower as a result.
Fossil, even though it is a small city, has many people who use public transportation every day to get to and from work. This is a great benefit for people in the, city who have a need for low-cost transportation.
The education level of Fossil citizens, measured as those with bachelor's degrees or advanced degrees, is similar to the national average for all American cities and towns. 18.82% of adults 25 and older in Fossil have a college degree.
The per capita income in Fossil in 2022 was $32,421, which is lower middle income relative to Oregon, and middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $129,684 for a family of four. However, Fossil contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
The people who call Fossil home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Fossil residents report their race to be White. Important ancestries of people in Fossil include English, Irish, German, Eastern European, and Scottish.
The most common language spoken in Fossil is English. Other important languages spoken here include Italian and German/Yiddish.
When you see a neighborhood for the first time, the most important thing is often the way it looks, like its homes and its setting. Some places look the same, but they only reveal their true character after living in them for a while because they contain a unique mix of occupational or cultural groups. This neighborhood is very unique in some important ways, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive exploration and analysis.
Unpopulated, and rural, the neighborhood is one of the least crowded neighborhoods in all of America. If you like open space, no traffic, and lots of room, this neighborhood may be just what you are looking for. According to NeighborhoodScout's leading research, this neighborhood is less densely populated than 99.4% of the neighborhoods in America. One of the notable things about is that it is one of the quietest neighborhoods in America, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis and quantitative rating of quietness. When you are here, you will find it to be very quiet. If quiet and peaceful are your cup of tea, you may have found a great place for you.
Each year, fewer and fewer Americans make their living as farmers, foresters, or fishers. But the neighborhood truly stands out among U.S. neighborhoods. According to exclusive NeighborhoodScout analysis, this neighborhood has a greater proportion of farmers, foresters, or fishers than 97.5% of all American neighborhoods. This is truly a unique cultural characteristic of this neighborhood.
Furthermore, the government often provides some of the more stable jobs in the economy. From local, to state, to federal government workers, the government can also be a major employer. What NeighborhoodScout's analysis revealed, is that the neighborhood in particular stands out when compared nationally for the proportion of its working residents who are employed by the government. At 14.6% of its workforce, this neighborhood has a greater concentration of government workers than 96.9% of U.S. neighborhoods.
If you're planning where to retire, the neighborhood in Fossil 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 OR, 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 86.9% of the neighborhoods in Oregon. If you are considering retiring to Oregon, this is a good neighborhood to look at.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Eastern European and English ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 3.4% of this neighborhood's residents have Eastern European ancestry and 28.1% have English 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 Fossil are lower-middle income, making it a below average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 78.3% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 10.6% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 51.9% of U.S. neighborhoods.
What we choose to do for a living reflects who we are. Each neighborhood has a different mix of occupations represented, and together these tell you about the neighborhood and help you understand if this neighborhood may fit your lifestyle.
In the neighborhood, 33.7% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants, with 28.1% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations (17.5%), and 15.1% in clerical, assistant, and tech support 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 95.5% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Italian.
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 Fossil, OR, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as English (28.1%). There are also a number of people of Irish ancestry (15.9%), and residents who report German roots (13.1%), and some of the residents are also of Scottish ancestry (5.3%), along with some Eastern European ancestry residents (3.4%), among others.
How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (53.2% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.
Here most residents (66.3%) 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 (5.7%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.