Oak Bluffs is a somewhat small coastal town (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of Massachusetts. With a population of 5,355 people and just one neighborhood, Oak Bluffs is the 245th largest community in Massachusetts.
Oak Bluffs home prices are not only among the most expensive in Massachusetts, but Oak Bluffs real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.
Unlike some towns where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Oak Bluffs is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Oak Bluffs is a town of construction workers and builders, professionals, and service providers. There are especially a lot of people living in Oak Bluffs who work in teaching (12.57%), maintenance occupations (11.86%), and management occupations (9.73%).
One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 8.71% 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.
Another notable thing is that Oak Bluffs is a major vacation destination. Much of the town’s population is seasonal: many people own second homes and only live there part-time, during the vacation season. The effect on the local economy is that many of the businesses are dependent on tourist dollars, and may operate only during the high season. As the vacation season ends, Oak Bluffs’s population drops significantly, such that year-round residents will notice that the city is a much quieter place to live.
In addition, Oak Bluffs is home to many people who could be described as "urban sophisticates". Urban sophisticates are people who are both educated and wealthy, and thus tend to be older, richer, and more established than young professionals. "Urban sophisticates" is not just about being educated and well-off financially: it is a point of view and state of mind, one that you might call 'urbaneness'. But such people can and do regularly live in small towns, suburbs and rural areas, as well as in big cities. They read, support the arts and high-end shops, and love travel.
Because of many things, Oak Bluffs is a great place for families with children to consider. First of all, many other families with children live here, making Oak Bluffs a place where both parents and children are more likely to develop social ties with other families, as well as find family-oriented services and community. The town’s good public school district and large population of college-educated adults provide an environment conducive to academic values. With regard to real estate, Oak Bluffs has a high rate of owner-occupied single family homes, which tends to reflect stability in the local community. Finally, Oak Bluffs’s overall crime rate is lower than average for the country.
One of the nice things about Oak Bluffs is that it is nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Because of this, visitors and locals will often go to these areas to take in the scenery or to enjoy waterfront activities.
One of the benefits of Oak Bluffs is that there is very little traffic. The average commute to work is 15.00 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.
Being a small town, Oak Bluffs does not have a public transit system used by locals to get to and from work.
Oak Bluffs is one of the most well-educated cities in the nation. 46.94% of adults in Oak Bluffs have at least a bachelor's degree. Compare that to the average community in America, which has just 21.84% with a bachelor's degree or higher.
The per capita income in Oak Bluffs in 2022 was $63,117, which is upper middle income relative to Massachusetts, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $252,468 for a family of four. However, Oak Bluffs contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Oak Bluffs is a somewhat ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Oak Bluffs home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Oak Bluffs residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Oak Bluffs include Irish, English, Brazilian, Italian, and French Canadian.
The most common language spoken in Oak Bluffs is English. Other important languages spoken here include Portuguese and Polish.
The way a neighborhood looks and feels when you walk or drive around it, from its setting, its buildings, and its flavor, can make all the difference. This neighborhood has some really cool things about the way it looks and feels as revealed by NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research. This might include anything from the housing stock to the types of households living here to how people get around.
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, vacant homes and apartments are a significant characteristic of this neighborhood. In fact, with 54.9% of the residential real estate vacant, the neighborhood claims the distinction of having a higher vacancy rate than 99.1% of the neighborhoods in America. This can either be because much of the property is seasonally occupied, like in many vacation areas, or that much of the real estate is more permanently abandoned.
In a nation where 1 out of every 4 children lives in poverty, the neighborhood stands out as being ranked among the lowest 0.0% of neighborhoods affected by this global issue.
In addition, has the amazing distinction of housing more same sex couples living together than 97.2% of neighborhoods in the U.S. If you are seeking such a neighborhood, NeighborhoodScout's analysis shows that this is one place that you should consider.
American households most often have a car, and regularly they have two or three. But households in the neighborhood buck this trend. Residents of this neighborhood must really love automobiles. NeighborhoodScout's Analysis reveals that 37.8% of the households here have four, five, or more cars. That is more cars per household than in 97.4% of the neighborhoods in the nation.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Brazilian and French Canadian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 10.6% of this neighborhood's residents have Brazilian ancestry and 6.6% have French Canadian ancestry.
is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 5.4% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Portuguese at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 99.3% of the neighborhoods in America.
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 Oak Bluffs are upper-middle income, making it an above average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 83.3% of the neighborhoods in America. In addition, 0.0% of the children seventeen and under living in this neighborhood are living below the federal poverty line, which is a lower rate of childhood poverty than is found in 100.0% of America'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, 40.5% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is manufacturing and laborer occupations, with 28.9% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (24.1%), and 6.5% 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 87.4% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Portuguese and Polish.
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 Oak Bluffs, MA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Irish (17.7%). There are also a number of people of English ancestry (11.2%), and residents who report Brazilian roots (10.6%), and some of the residents are also of Italian ancestry (7.2%), along with some French Canadian ancestry residents (6.6%), among others. In addition, 10.3% of the residents of this neighborhood were born in another country.
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 (52.1% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.
Here most residents (79.9%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also hop out the door and walk to work to get to work (6.2%) and 5.2% of residents also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors 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.