City · Lincoln County, Oregon

Lincoln City, Oregon

Lincoln City is a city in Lincoln County, Oregon, part of the Newport, OR metro area. It has 9,968 residents. Lincoln City, Oregon has a quality-of-life score of 45 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #8,599 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Oregon it ranks #116 of 227 cities and towns. It ranks best on restaurants and bars (high), grocery stores (high) and public EV charging ports (high). It ranks worst on mental health care shortage (high), flu vaccinations (low) and home price to income ratio (high).

45Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #8,599 of 15,651 cities and towns
Oregon: #116 of 227 in OR
Population: 9,968 (2020-2024)
Land area: 6 mi²
Density: 1,647.6 /mi²
FIPS code: 4142600

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 69 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety21#12,338/15,637
Economy18#12,821/15,631
Housing16#12,625/14,977
Health28#11,175/15,609
Healthcare20#12,485/15,650
Environment94#865/15,453
Education48#8,145/15,649
Infrastructure78#3,409/15,650
Community71#4,544/15,651
Leisure & amenities89#1,707/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Lincoln City, Oregon ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Lincoln County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Restaurants and bars · high25.7 /10k
99/100Oregon 12.4 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsLincoln County value
Grocery stores · high3.5 /10k
97/100Oregon 1.6 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsLincoln County value
Public EV charging ports · high20.5 /10k
96/100Oregon 10.1 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyLincoln County value
Hot days · low2 days
95/100Oregon 16 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationLincoln County value
Mental health providers · high584 /100k
92/100Oregon 776 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteLincoln County value
Average commute time · low17.4 min
92/100Oregon 23.0 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013

Weaknesses

Mental health care shortage · high19.0
4/100Oregon 12.5United States 9.9Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationLincoln County value
Flu vaccinations · low27.0%
4/100Oregon 39.0%United States 44.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteLincoln County value
Home price to income ratio · high7.3×
5/100Oregon 5.8×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Suicide rate · high27.5 /100k
6/100Oregon 20.3 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataLincoln County value
Depression · high29.2%
6/100Oregon 27.9%United States 20.7%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Dental care shortage · high18.0
6/100Oregon 9.4United States 5.7Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationLincoln County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationRising
8,826 (2015-2019) → 9,968 (2020-2024)
+13%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Child poverty rateImproving
26.1% (2015-2019) → 11.9% (2020-2024)
−14 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
82.6% (2015-2019) → 91.4% (2020-2024)
+8.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$39,344 (2015-2019) → $56,635 (2020-2024)
+44%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Income inequality (Gini index)Worsening
0.417 (2015-2019) → 0.547 (2020-2024)
+31%5 yearsCensus table B19083US 0.482 → 0.483
New homes permittedImproving
5.5 /1k (2021) → 6.9 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+26%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Lincoln City, Oregon improved on 4 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 2. 8 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved4

Child poverty−14 points26.1% → 11.9%
Poverty−5.1 points19.2% → 14.1%
Household income+44%$39,344 → $56,635
Broadband+8.8 points82.6% → 91.4%

Declined2

Inequality+0.1300.417 → 0.547
Price / income+1.0×6.3× → 7.3×

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Lincoln City, Oregon between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	18.1 min2015-2019	17.4 min2020-2024	−0.6 min	Within the margin of error	56%
Bachelor's degree or higher	25.5%2015-2019	26.1%2020-2024	+0.6 points	Within the margin of error	32%
Broadband subscriptions	82.6%2015-2019	91.4%2020-2024	+8.8 points	Improved	54%
Child poverty rate	26.1%2015-2019	11.9%2020-2024	−14 points	Improved	88%
Effective property tax rate	1.15%2015-2019	1.00%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	47%
High school diploma or higher	89.1%2015-2019	90.4%2020-2024	+1.2 points	Within the margin of error	49%
Home price to income ratio	6.3×2015-2019	7.3×2020-2024	+1.0×	Declined	21%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4172015-2019	0.5472020-2024	+0.130	Declined	2%
Median household income	$39,3442015-2019	$56,6352020-2024	+44%	Improved	79%
Poverty rate	19.2%2015-2019	14.1%2020-2024	−5.1 points	Improved	81%
Rent as share of income	32.4%2015-2019	33.5%2020-2024	+1.1 points	Within the margin of error	46%
Rent-burdened households	54.2%2015-2019	58.4%2020-2024	+4.1 points	Within the margin of error	41%
Unemployment rate	3.9%2015-2019	6.7%2020-2024	+2.8 points	Within the margin of error	11%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	12.5%2015-2019	13.8%2020-2024	+1.3 points	Within the margin of error	31%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Lincoln City, Oregon five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Lincoln City, Oregon in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Lincoln City, Oregon itself moved −5.4 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

9,968 residents (±26)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79
60–69

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

4,548 households (±268)

Lincoln City, Oregon
Oregon share

Under $25k23%1,067
$25k–50k19%842
$50k–75k26%1,179

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

4,548 households (±268)

Lincoln City, Oregon
Oregon share

Own59%2,698
Rent41%1,850

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+7.6 points).

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

4,014 workers (±317)

Lincoln City, Oregon
Oregon share

Drive alone63%2,534
Carpool14%†548
Public transit0.1%†6

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Newport, OR

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Lincoln County, the county holding most of Lincoln City's residents.

Lincoln County has 1,613 employer establishments, 317 for every 10,000 residents (1.28× the US rate of 248; 1.10× Oregon's), with 14,839 paid employees at an average annual pay of $44,494. The Census Bureau also counts 3,927 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 1,613; 3,927 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 317; US 248 · Oregon 288
Paid employees: 14,839
Average annual pay: $44,494; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Lincoln County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Restaurants and other eating places	188	37	2.01×More than typical	2,401	$32,897	18
Full-service restaurants	114	22.4	2.92×More than typical	1,769	$35,629	9
Construction of buildings	110	21.6	2.86×More than typical	321	$48,969	146
Lessors of real estate	84	16.5	1.34×More than typical	573	$37,187	445
Traveler accommodation	81	15.9	8.83×More than typical	1,621	$29,671	30
Specialty trade contractors	78	15.4	0.99×About typical	462	$52,584	184
Ambulatory health care services	66	13	0.62×Fewer than typical	422	$55,268	182
Limited-service restaurants	42	8.3	1.03×About typical	439	$25,606	4
Clothing and accessories stores	39	7.7	2.12×More than typical	359	$22,986	44
Services to buildings and dwellings	37	7.3	1.08×About typical	236	$32,394	269
Snack and non-alcoholic beverage bars	31	6.1	2.41×More than typical	174	$23,874	4
Building equipment contractors	29	5.7	0.95×About typical	201	$67,179	27

Rank places for an industry Open Lincoln County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 50,811 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $122.6K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Lincoln City, Oregon: $12.30 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $122.6K; +5,112% vs FY2025
Per resident: $12.30; US $1,994
Sole-source: 100%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.0%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Department of Veterans Affairs$122.6K100%

Top recipients

COUNTY OF LINCOLN$122.6K100.0%

Spending by fiscal year

4.4KFY2017
9.1KFY2018
-1.8KFY2019
5.3KFY2020
180.6KFY2021
2.1KFY2022
6.9KFY2023
13.7KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Outpatient care centers · 6214$122.6K100.0%

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Lincoln City, Oregon, so they do not add up across cities.

Lincoln City, Oregon's figures are part of those of Lincoln County, OR ($16.3M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.8% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Lincoln City is mostly in Lincoln County.

See federal money in Lincoln County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Lincoln City, Oregon is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Val T. HoyleD-OR-4 · 100% of residentsWith party 97%Missed 1.8%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Lincoln County59100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Newport, OR63

Other cities and towns in Lincoln County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/4142600

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends