Photo: Dieter F · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Seaside are lower than in 91% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 5.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 19.6 in Portland. Below the poverty line: 17.6% of residents; Oregon has 11.9%. Jobs and income earn Seaside D; getting around on foot earns it A+.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Seaside at work: what stands out
A big share show a job far from home
37% 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 Seaside are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 23 across Oregon. That’s about 38 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 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Inside Seaside’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Seaside is better than 5% of U.S. towns, #137 of 142 in Oregon. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Seaside’s grade.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Seaside could be anywhere from D− to C.
Miles to work from Seaside
About 37% 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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
The trip to work from Seaside: about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Seaside workers work from home, vs 19% across Oregon. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,533 commuters (the 16% 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, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 2,093 residents head out to work, 948 work right here, and 2,086 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.00 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
11% of working residents work in Cannon Beach
Where Seaside clocks in
11% of workers
6% 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.
The kinds of work in Seaside
3,034 jobs are based in Seaside.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Seaside, 2013 → 2023: 2,941 → 3,034. 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 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Seaside’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Good to walk, short on transit: Seaside
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Seaside is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns, #7 of 142 in Oregon. Both inputs place Seaside 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 3,000 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 73% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 20% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 5.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 85% 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). 18.1% of Seaside households have no vehicle (Oregon 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Seaside’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Seaside compares with U.S. towns of 5,000 to 9,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 407 | Creswell OR | 5,566 | $100K | 4.3% | 0.8% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 496 | Cedar Hills OR | 8,388 | $106K | 2.3% | 5.0% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 511 | Rockcreek OR | 9,223 | $107K | 4.3% | 4.0% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,072 | Dunlap TN | 6,089 | $46K | 34.3% | 12.2% | 25% | D |
| 3,073 | Avra Valley AZ | 6,277 | $54K | 18.8% | 13.4% | 2% | D |
| 3,074 | Seaside OR | 7,092 | $47K | 17.6% | 8.1% | 31% | D |
| 3,075 | Rumford ME | 6,025 | $38K | 22.6% | 5.4% | 23% | D |
| 3,076 | Palermo CA | 5,266 | $51K | 20.1% | 10.6% | 4% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,164 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Seaside, the top three, the last and three more from Oregon.
Work in the towns next to Seaside
The biggest share goes to Gearhart (2%).
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Seaside’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 2023, 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 Seaside: questions
What is the median household income in Seaside?
$47,361 (±$6,608) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,011 across Oregon and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Seaside?
17.6%, against 11.9% across Oregon and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Seaside?
18 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Oregon and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Seaside work?
31% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cannon Beach (11%, 7 mi), Portland (10%, 69 mi), Astoria (6%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Seaside walkable?
Seaside is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 13.2 out of 20, and 16% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Seaside without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 18% of households have no car. 20% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Seaside, from the people who make the trip.
More of Seaside
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, 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.