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Gearhart, OR

This is a small community in a single neighborhood. As throughout the site, some neighborhood-level data are reserved for subscribers.





Overview


Gearhart is a very small coastal city (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of Oregon. With a population of 1,872 people and just one neighborhood, Gearhart is the 162nd largest community in Oregon. Much of the housing stock in Gearhart was built relatively recently. The construction of new real estate can often be taken as an indication that the local Gearhart economy is robust, and that jobs or other amenities are attracting an influx of new residents. This seems to be the case in Gearhart, where the median household income is $92,250.00.

Gearhart home prices are not only among the most expensive in Oregon, but Gearhart real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.

Occupations and Workforce

Unlike some cities, Gearhart isn’t mainly white- or blue-collar. Instead, the most prevalent occupations for people in Gearhart are a mix of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Gearhart is a city of service providers, professionals, and managers. There are especially a lot of people living in Gearhart who work in management occupations (15.04%), food service (9.99%), and law enforcement and fire fighting (8.87%).

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 18.83% 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.

Setting & Lifestyle

Another notable thing is that Gearhart is an extremely popular vacation destination. A significant portion of the population is seasonal. During the vacation season, the city experiences a large influx of people who take up residence in second homes they own in the area. As the vacation season ends, the population drops again, leaving behind a substantially quieter and smaller city.

Gearhart 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.

Residents of the city have the good fortune of having one of the shortest daily commutes compared to the rest of the country. On average, they spend only 18.42 minutes getting to work every day.

Demographics

The education level of Gearhart ranks among the highest in the nation. Of the 25-and-older adult population in Gearhart, 48.07% have at least a bachelor's degree. The typical US community has just 21.84% of its adults holding a bachelor's degree or graduate degree.

The per capita income in Gearhart in 2022 was $52,217, which is wealthy relative to Oregon and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $208,868 for a family of four.

Gearhart is a somewhat ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Gearhart home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Gearhart residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Gearhart include English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, and French.

The most common language spoken in Gearhart is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Polish.

Notable & Unique Neighborhood Characteristics

Many things matter about a neighborhood, but the first thing most people notice is the way a neighborhood looks and its particular character. For example, one might notice whether the buildings all date from a certain time period or whether shop signs are in multiple languages. This particular neighborhood in Gearhart, the neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.

Real Estate

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, despite all of the residential real estate here in the neighborhood, NeighborhoodScout has discovered that much of it is vacant. In resort or second-home vacation areas, this naturally occurs because homes and apartments are seasonally occupied, and empty for a portion of the year. In non-vacation or resort areas, however, this can be an indicator of property abandonment or a weak real estate market. The vacancy rate here is 40.1%, which is higher than 97.8% of all U.S. neighborhoods.

People

If you're planning where to retire, the neighborhood in Gearhart 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 89.5% of the neighborhoods in Oregon. If you are considering retiring to Oregon, this is a good neighborhood to look at.

Diversity

Did you know that the neighborhood has more Swedish and Finnish ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 8.0% of this neighborhood's residents have Swedish ancestry and 1.8% have Finnish ancestry.

The Neighbors

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 Gearhart are upper-middle income, making it an above average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 64.4% of the neighborhoods in America. With 23.7% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 75.2% of U.S. neighborhoods.

The old saying "you are what you eat" is true. But it is also true that you are what you do for a living. The types of occupations your neighbors have shape their character, and together as a group, their collective occupations shape the culture of a place.

In the neighborhood, 45.2% 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 30.7% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (13.0%), and 8.2% in manufacturing and laborer occupations.

Languages

The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 86.4% of households. Some people also speak Spanish (8.4%).

Ethnicity / Ancestry

Boston's Beacon Hill blue-blood streets, Brooklyn's Orthodox Jewish enclaves, Los Angeles' Persian neighborhoods. Each has its own culture derived primarily from the ancestries and culture of the residents who call these neighborhoods home. Likewise, each neighborhood in America has its own culture – some more unique than others – based on lifestyle, occupations, the types of households – and importantly – on the ethnicities and ancestries of the people who live in the neighborhood. Understanding where people came from, who their grandparents or great-grandparents were, can help you understand how a neighborhood is today.

In the neighborhood in Gearhart, OR, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as German (18.0%). There are also a number of people of English ancestry (15.7%), and residents who report Mexican roots (12.0%), and some of the residents are also of Swedish ancestry (8.0%), along with some Norwegian ancestry residents (7.0%), among others.

Getting to Work

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 (53.2% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.

Here most residents (67.4%) 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 (10.7%) and 5.2% 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.


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