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, Oak Bluffs isn’t mainly white- or blue-collar. Instead, the most prevalent occupations for people in Oak Bluffs are a mix 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%).
Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 8.71% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. 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 an extremely popular vacation destination. A significant portion of the population is seasonal. During the vacation season, the town experiences a large influx of people who take up residence in second homes they own in the area. As the vacation season ends, the population drops again, leaving behind a substantially quieter and smaller town.
In addition, Oak Bluffs is home to many people who could be described as "urban sophisticates", which are people who are not only wealthy and employed in professional occupations, but highly educated to boot. Urban sophisticates have urbane tastes - whether they reside in a big or small city, a suburb, or a little town. Urban sophisticates support bookstores, quality clothing stores, enjoy luxury travel, and in big cities, they are truly the patrons of the arts, attending and supporting institutions such as opera, symphony, ballet, and theatre.
Because of many things, Oak Bluffs is a very good place for families to consider. With an enviable combination of good schools, low crime, college-educated neighbors who tend to support education because of their own experiences, and a high rate of home ownership in predominantly single-family properties, Oak Bluffs really has some of the features that families look for when choosing a good community to raise children. Is Oak Bluffs perfect? Of course not, and if you like frenetic nightlife, it will be far from your cup of tea. But overall this is a solid community, with many things to recommend it as a family-friendly place to live.
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.
Residents of the town have the good fortune of having one of the shortest daily commutes compared to the rest of the country. On average, they spend only 15.00 minutes getting to work every day.
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.
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.
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.
Of note is NeighborhoodScout's research finding that the neighborhood has some of the lowest rates of children living in poverty of any neighborhood in the United States. In a nation where approximately 1 in 4 children are living in poverty, the community truly stands out from the rest in this regard.
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.
Most American households own a car or other vehicle. Many own two cars or perhaps three. In the United States, it is useful to have an automobile not only for commuting, but also for shopping and getting to other services one needs. But NeighborhoodScout's analysis revealed that households in the neighborhood have a highly unusual car ownership. 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.
How wealthy a neighborhood is, from very wealthy, to middle income, to low income is very formative with regard to the personality and character of a neighborhood. Equally important is the rate of people, particularly children, who live below the federal poverty line. In some wealthy gated communities, the areas immediately surrounding can have high rates of childhood poverty, which indicates other social issues. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals both aspects of income and poverty for this 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.