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Oriental, NC

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





Overview


Oriental is a tiny coastal town (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of North Carolina. With a population of 886 people and just one neighborhood, Oriental is the 415th largest community in North Carolina.

Oriental home prices are not only among the most expensive in North Carolina, but Oriental real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.

Occupations and Workforce

Oriental is a decidedly white-collar town, with fully 88.61% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Oriental is a town of professionals, sales and office workers, and service providers. There are especially a lot of people living in Oriental who work in food service (15.19%), office and administrative support (14.35%), and management occupations (14.35%).

Also of interest is that Oriental has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

Of important note, Oriental is also a town of artists. Oriental has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Oriental’s character.

A relatively large number of people in Oriental telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 22.94% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. 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

The town is relatively quiet, having a combination of lower population density and few of those groups of people who have a tendency to be noisy. For example, Oriental has relatively fewer families with younger children, and/or college students. Combined, this makes Oriental a pretty quiet place to live overall. If you like quiet, you will probably enjoy it here.

Oriental 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. Such areas are often places that visitors and locals go for waterfront activities or taking in the scenery.

One of the benefits of Oriental is that there is very little traffic. The average commute to work is 17.28 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.

As is often the case in a small town, Oriental doesn't have a public transportation system that people use for their commute.

Demographics

If knowledge is power, Oriental is a pretty powerful place. 54.22% of the adults in Oriental have earned a 4-year college degree, masters degree, MD, law degree, or even PhD. Compare that to the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns.

The per capita income in Oriental in 2022 was $45,274, which is wealthy relative to North Carolina and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $181,096 for a family of four. However, Oriental contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

The people who call Oriental home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Oriental residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Oriental include English, German, Irish, Polish, and Scottish.

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

Notable & Unique Neighborhood Characteristics

When you see a neighborhood for the first time, the most important thing is often the way it looks, like its homes and its setting. Some places look the same, but they only reveal their true character after living in them for a while because they contain a unique mix of occupational or cultural groups. This neighborhood is very unique in some important ways, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive exploration and analysis.

Real Estate

This neighborhood has wide open spaces, few people, and lots of space to stretch out. If you like locations that fit that description, you may like this neighborhood. Based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis, with only 38 people per square mile living here, this neighborhood is less crowded than 91.2% of America. is a neighborhood that is on the ocean, a bay, or inlet. Many times, such places have amenities that bring locals and visitors to the waterfront for recreational activities or to check out the scenery. In some densely populated areas that are less financially well-off, the neighborhood waterfront can be relatively industrial and less open to recreation. 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. One of the notable things about is that it is one of the quietest neighborhoods in America, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis and quantitative rating of quietness. When you are here, you will find it to be very quiet. If quiet and peaceful are your cup of tea, you may have found a great place for you.

People

If you are planning to retire in North Carolina, this neighborhood should be on your must-see list. For many reasons, may be considered a retiree's dream neighborhood. According to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis and metrics, it's peaceful and quiet, has above average safety from crime compared to other neighborhoods in North Carolina, while also offering a diverse range of housing options. This, along with the vibrant mix of very educated seniors and other age groups who choose to live here, makes the neighborhood more retiree-friendly than 98.6% of neighborhoods in NC. If a North Carolina retirement is in your future, this neighborhood should be one of the places you visit.

Diversity

Did you know that the neighborhood has more English ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 22.1% of this neighborhood's residents have English 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 Oriental are middle-income, making it a moderate income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 43.8% of the neighborhoods in America. With 32.8% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 83.7% of U.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, 46.8% 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 31.0% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (12.1%), and 10.1% in manufacturing and laborer occupations.

Languages

The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 97.2% of households. Some people also speak Polish (2.8%).

Ethnicity / Ancestry

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 Oriental, NC, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as English (22.1%). There are also a number of people of Irish ancestry (15.3%), and residents who report German roots (10.6%), and some of the residents are also of Scottish ancestry (4.5%), along with some Scots-Irish ancestry residents (3.0%), among others.

Getting to Work

How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (53.1% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.

Here most residents (81.6%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.


Real Estate includes:
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Neighborhood Setting
Economics & Demographics include:
Lifestyle & Special Character
Household Types
Commute To Work
Migration & Mobility
Race & Ethnic Diversity
Employment Industries & Occupations
Income & Unemployment Rate
Higher Education Attainment
Crime includes:
Neighborhood Crime Index
Crimes Per Square Mile
Property Crime Comparison
Violent Crime Comparison
Schools include:
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