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Best Oregon Coast Towns to Live In for 2026 | Full Ranking

Living On The Oregon Coast

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If you're relocating to the Oregon Coast, we're looking at the top cities on the Oregon Coast ranked by affordability, quality of life, convenience, culture and amenities, and public health and safety.

But choosing a favorite Oregon Coast town depends on your lifestyle, age, circumstance and what is most important to you. We're also looking at some of the nuance and context behind the rankings, and there are definitely some surprises here.

Living in these towns can also be vastly different than visiting them as a tourist or on vacation, so we're looking at these communities from the perspective of living on the Oregon Coast.

Planning a move to the Oregon Coast? We put together a free Oregon Coast Relocation Guide covering the towns, housing, weather and the information we've found matters most to people buying homes up and down the Coast: https://bit.ly/3T9afWR
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👋 We're Paul and Seth, Oregon & Washington real estate brokers. If you're considering a move, second home or an investment and want some help figuring out which part of the Coast fits what you're looking for, you can schedule an intro here: https://calendly.com/oregonrelocation...

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Get More Oregon Coast Info:

The Oregon Coast Housing Market Has Split: The Oregon Coast Housing Market Has Split
Where to Live on the Oregon Coast When Moving to the Oregon Coast: Where to Live on the Oregon Coast When Mov...
Watch THIS If You're Thinking of BUYING a Home on the Oregon Coast: Watch THIS If You're Thinking of BUYING a ...
Oregon Coast Investment Property: Oregon Coast Investment Property

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Timestamps:
0:00 Which Oregon Coast Town Is Right for You?
2:16 #8 Brookings | Beautiful but Isolated
6:17 #7 Lincoln City | Easy Access, Big Trade-Offs
9:13 #6 Seaside | The Most Polarizing Oregon Coast Town
14:14 #5 Tillamook | Bay Living, Convenience, and Flood Risk
18:14 #4 Florence | Quiet Coastal Living and Great Value
23:19 #3 Coos Bay & North Bend | Most Affordable Coastal Option?
27:59 #2 Newport | The Most Practical Oregon Coast Town?
32:25 #1 Astoria | Culture, History, and Coastal Access
37:54 Which Oregon Coast Town Fits Your Lifestyle?

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Seth Marchant – REALTOR®, OR Broker, License # 201242735 | WA Broker, License # 24005523
Paul Clem – REALTOR®, OR Broker, License # 201240070 | WA Broker, License # 23011974

Brokered by: ELEETE Real Estate
CALL or TEXT: 503-925-5645
EMAIL: info@oregonreloteam.com
LEARN MORE: https://www.oregonreloteam.com
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20 Comments

@barbhammill2296 3 months ago

You could skip the background music. It’s annoying and distracting

@brookingsbeachcomber 3 months ago

The isolation was the biggest factor for us picking Brookings, 7 years here and love it.

@kangarooish72 2 months ago

Great list. Music made me want to gouge out my ears

@dawnshipp6131 2 months ago

I live in Brookings, the word chetco is named after the Indians, there is a memorial about them, at the port at the end of the board walk, there actually is quite a bit of cultural history, before Brookings was established
It was called Harbor Oregon
And it's not a rural as one would think. The majority of us love to travel to the valley or even up to coosbay and it's basically a 2 hour drive give or take either direction,
Even if a road goes out due to a road slide the original residents , and family decendents all work together to help the community how ever possible, it a way of living and none of us have ever felt cut off from the rest of the inland areas , there is a such thing as back mountain roads, and some one will have a beefed up 4x4 to get a person inland when needed , just a little insight....

@TravelSmallLiveBig 2 days ago

Excellent list & points. And some very helpful comments - this coast is stunning! But I think it is a challenge to live on.

@robinmichel9048 3 months ago

I live in Tillamook. The two biggest drawbacks in my opinion are the climate and accessibility. "Only" 1.5 to 2 hours to the Willamette Valley does not capture the PITA of Highway 6 and Highway 22. Highway 6 is a bit better because there are passing lanes but if you get stuck behind a camper or big truck on 22, it's going to be a grueling slog to get to Salem. As far as the climate, it is really, really damp here. It is beautiful for 3-4 months but you're looking at 8-9 months of soggy weather. It is also very blue collar here, which could be tough for people who are used to a more cosmopolitan lifestyle. Also, internet is terrible.

@edarndt3195 3 months ago

I had a house in Lincoln city for six years. I always wanted the house on the ocean view but living on the east side of the highway of Lincoln city was a lot less battering on my home lot easier to take care of with wind damage and the ocean damage that you get on the ocean front to really hard on your hall living on the oceanfront

@ChristinaFoster-h2b 1 month ago

One major thing you missed about the Coos Bay/NB area is that even though the whole urban area is on the bay, not the ocean, the reason is because the ocean area is all beautiful state parks which were gifted to the state early on.

@dstage64 3 months ago

Lincon City is a town of about 6 little town grown together to make one town.

@BunBun_Co 1 month ago

So cool this popped up on my feed today! I’ve been thinking about moving to Oregon!
I’m really wanting to develop my own homestead. I’d like to have at least 5 acres in small area with easy access to hospital, clinics and grocery stores. But I do have a mostly fixed income. I don’t even need a house on the land. But I do need electricity, sewer , well water ect.

@cfarlow5830 3 months ago (edited)

We moved from SoCa to retire in Lincoln City in 2003. We chose Lincoln City because we wanted to live near the ocean, lake, bay and rivers. We wanted to be able to drive to a larger city in the valley within an hour. There are about 9,000 full time residents, and the town is 7 miles long. We have plenty of stores, restaurants, art, farmer’s markets, cultural center, concerts at the Casino, outlet mall, Nelscott world surf, large hospital, Biosphere, hiking/waterfalls, community college, sleezy bars. We first lived on the west side and we could stroll to the ocean under mostly gray skies. We moved to the east side up on a hill, out of the tsunami zone, with an ocean view enjoying more sunny blue sky days. We love living here! Great video..well done.

@jerrilynhenson9024 3 months ago

Born in Astoria but wasn’t raised there. Family originally from there, still there.

@PamelaSprings92211 3 months ago

Born and raised in Seaside and loved living there back in the 50's and 60's then moved to Astoria for 20 years and raised my children there and it was a great place to raise kids. I go back a few times a year but the homeless have taken over city streets with their tents and wander in groups around town and hang out in the entrance to town and various places. I don't care for that so I don't go back anymore unless I have a reason to do so. Sad to see. Tillamook always floods every winter and I hated driving through there on way down the Coast. I love Florence and it has a different look and feel. Although Cannon Beach and Arch Cape were not mentioned I think they are beautiful areas and worth visiting and the restaurants are great. The beach is accesable and no better beach on a beautiful day. Seaside beach has changed so much. It used to be flat sand and only a few dunes at the south end of the prom but now that overhead drone view looks like a lot of vegetation has grown up. They should do something about that in my opinion.

@gregoneal2013 1 month ago

Really well done in my opinion. Great job.

@mattalley4330 1 month ago (edited)

An important thing to note about Seaside, related to the threat of tsunami, is the two streams (the Necanicum river and a creek whose name eludes me at the moment) that flow south to north through town and are the reason for the series of bridges that one would need to cross to get to high ground east of town in the event of the "big one". I think that one or two was recently rebuilt to modern safety standards but you cant count on those bridges being the ones you will be near if you are on or near the beach and the unthinkable happens. The other bridges are likely to collapse. There is the large condo building that was built to withstand earthquakes and also be an artificial highground from a tsunami which is visible at 11:08 but I recall hearing somewhere that it was built to withstand an earthquake in the range of a magnitude 8 or a bit higher and the big one could be a bit over a 9. Not to be all doom and gloom here. I just want folks to be aware. If the Casadia subduction zone earthquake happens and you are on or near the beach in Seaside then frankly I dont like your chances. I used to live in Cannon Beach and when I visit the coast with my family there is a reason I have removed Seaside from our list of destinations. 😢
As far as I know most of these other towns have high ground relatively close by.

@margoshukri9105 3 months ago

You did a good job thanks

@bethbilynskyj162 2 months ago (edited)

We have lived in Eugene for 30 years, and always thought we would retire to Florence. It's a lovely little town with a slow pace of life and beautiful surroundings. But when the time came, four things kept us here:
1) the airport. We have to fly to see our daughters, now on the east coast and abroad. Staying where we are, we avoid hour+ commutes just to get to the airport. Imagine what one has to go through when a flight is delayed, or cancelled.
2) Health care. The Florence hospital is tiny and cannot offer the breadth of care that we can get here in Eugene. Moreover, there aren't enough doctors. It's hard enough getting established with a practice here in Eugene, but impossible in Florence, and don't even think about specialists. (We discovered this from a relative who moved to Florence and learned the hard way. For instance, he has had to drive to Coos Bay to see a dermatologist.)
3) Highway 126 is winding and dangerous, often closed by accidents or mudslides. You take your life in your hands driving it at night. Sometimes it floods just outside of Florence, especially during high tides. When that happens, if you want to get to Eugene, you either have to wait it out, or drive 101 north to Newport, then over Highway 20 to Corvallis and then south to Eugene. Imagine if you had to make a flight or get to a doctor's appointment in Eugene.
4) With our current low mortgage rate, we couldn't afford to move there and live as cheaply.

P.S. In 2015 I participated in a CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) program. I was told at that time that when the Big One comes, for those who survive the tsunami, it would be at least two years before utilities ( water and electric) were restored in Florence. That was before Trump II. Now that he denies disaster aid to Democratic-led states, I would be surprised if they ever were restored.

@davidgalchutt5021 3 months ago

i am completely content living in “last place” brookings especially after living the majority of my life in l.a. county.
you misspoke about medford being the closest airport. i have flown several times out of the very nice regional airport in crescent city…. only a half hour south of here. they fly to oakland and hawthorne (close to lax).
you get used to occasionally driving over grants pass or medford for better medical care and places like costco. it’s not really all that isolated. it is paradise here.

@patrickmartin4996 1 month ago

Thanks for this video. I mostly agree with you on the cities I know a lot about. I live in the Warrenton area. Seaside is a zoo in the Summer with tourists, but it always has been. That is our bread and butter on the coast. Warrenton & Astoria do have tourists, but not like Seaside. I live in an area next to hundreds of acres of cow pasture land about a mile from the ocean. It is perfect for me. I can easily get to anywhere in Clatsop County within about 1/2 an hour.