Photo: Meronim · CC BY-SA 3.0Most of Gearhart commutes out: there are 0.5 jobs for every working resident
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 2.0 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 19.6 in Portland. Employers in Gearhart report 408 jobs for 771 working residents. The two grades for Gearhart are B for jobs and income and A for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Gearhart: the gist
Gearhart and Seaside trade workers both ways
Seaside is the top workplace for Gearhart residents (20%) and also where the most people who work in Gearhart come from (19% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
A big share show a job far from home
42% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Commutes from Gearhart are quick
The average trip to work takes 16 minutes, against 23 across Oregon. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Oregon worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 771 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why Gearhart gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty and job access, Gearhart is better than 61% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Gearhart’s grade up (3.6%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 12% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (6.6%) is left out: Gearhart’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Gearhart could be anywhere from B− to B+.
20% of working residents work in Seaside
Where Gearhart clocks in
20% of workers
9% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Miles to work from Gearhart
About 42% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Commuting from Gearhart: about 16 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Gearhart workers work from home, vs 19% across Oregon. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 720 commuters (the 19% who work from home are left out). Across Oregon: 80% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Who leaves Gearhart for work, and who comes in
On a workday 732 residents head out to work, 39 work right here, and 369 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,500 people are in Gearhart on a workday afternoon, 20% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Jobs in Gearhart: what the 408 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Gearhart, 2014 → 2024: 385 → 408. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Gearhart’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Gearhart is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Gearhart is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Gearhart near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 887 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 33% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 68% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 4.7% of Gearhart households have no vehicle (Oregon 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Gearhart’s commuters take a bus or train.
Gearhart next to U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,500: 1,587th of 5,656 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Dunthorpe OR | 1,875 | $250K | 1.2% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 201 | Boring OR | 1,869 | $159K | 3.8% | 6.0% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 238 | Stafford OR | 1,600 | $163K | 6.9% | 5.0% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,585 | Augusta Township OH | 1,470 | $84K | 6.9% | 6.0% | <1% | B |
| 1,586 | Washington Township OH | 1,535 | $90K | 6.2% | 1.3% | 4% | B |
| 1,587 | Gearhart OR | 1,861 | $92K | 3.6% | 6.6% | 5% | B |
| 1,588 | Ashkum Township IL | 1,381 | $90K | 4.0% | 1.5% | 5% | B |
| 1,589 | Great Bend Township KS | 1,397 | $103K | 6.2% | 0.0% | 6% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 5,656 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 7% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Gearhart, the top three, the last and three more from Oregon.
20% of Gearhart works in a town next door
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Seaside. Darker towns draw more of Gearhart’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Gearhart: questions
What is the median household income in Gearhart?
$92,250 (±$9,683) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,011 across Oregon and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Gearhart?
3.6%, against 11.9% across Oregon and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Gearhart?
16 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Oregon and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Gearhart work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Seaside (20%, 3 mi), Portland (10%, 70 mi), Cannon Beach (9%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Gearhart walkable?
Gearhart is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.9 out of 20, and 10% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Gearhart without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Gearhart, from the people who make the trip.
More of Gearhart
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.