Which Coastal Area is really the Best?

I often write about the Long Beach Peninsula on this blog. That is largely because I have a fair bit of experience there, but also because it has been a great region for value and relative location. But what about other nearby coastal areas and towns? Sticking with the Southwest Washington and Northwest Oregon region, I can break it down into three 'zones'. 

• Clatsop County, OR: Cannon Beach, Seaside, Warrenton, Astoria
• Pacific County, WA: Ilwaco, Long Beach, Ocean Park, Oysterville
• Grays Harbor County, WA: Westport, Ocean Shores, Copalis Beach, Pacific Beach

Clatsop County, Oregon 

Statistics:

• County Population: @ 41,000
• County Area: 1084 square miles, 829 on land
• More than 34 miles of Pacific coastline
• Highest point: Saddle Mountain, 3283 feet
• Largest City: Astoria, population 10,181 (2020)
• Seat of Government: Astoria
• Largest beachfront town: Seaside, population @ 7000
• Median home price: $533,086
• Most expensive town: Arch Cape median price $969,272
• Taxes: mean property tax 0.9%, no sales tax, aggressive state income tax
• Nearest Costco Store: Warrenton, OR 5.6 miles from Astoria
• Nearest Hospital: Columbia Memorial, Astoria & Providence Seaside, Seaside
• Major highways: US 101, US 26, US 30
• Nearest city of 100k+ population: Hillsboro, OR population @100,000; 77 miles from Astoria, 1:43 drive; Vancouver, WA 89 miles 1:35 drive
• Nearest Major City: Portland, OR 96 miles from Astoria, 2hrs drive 

Clatsop county features two primary beach areas the southern bit is from Cove Beach to Crescent Beach with approximately nine miles of beaches. The trendy Cannon Beach is included in this stretch. The larger beach section is in the north runs 18 miles continuously from Painted Rock Beach to the South Columbia River Jetty near Warrenton. This section includes the family friendly Seaside area which is resort and vacation oriented. All of Clatsop County features a marine coastal climate with cooler temps than inland areas and mild year round weather. Other than the Pacific Coast the county does have some 25 miles of Columbia River waterfront as well. The county also offers some rugged coastal mountains. Clatsop suffers from puffed up pricing in real estate due at least impart to the excellent national advertising campaign for the Oregon Coast. It is famous and thus expensive.

Pacific County, Washington

Statistics:

• County Population: 23,365 (2020)
• County Area: 1223 square miles, 933 on land
• Nearly 36 miles of Pacific coastline
• Highest point: 3003 feet, unnamed high point
• Largest City: Raymond, population 3081 (2020)
• Seat of Government: South Bend
• Largest beachfront town: Long Beach, population @3000
• Median home price: $292,651
• Most expensive town: Chinook median price $365,417
• Taxes: mean property tax 1%, 8.1% sales tax, no income tax
• Nearest Costco Store: Warrenton, OR 21 miles from Long Beach, 55 miles from Raymond
• Nearest Hospital: Ocean Beach Hospital, Ilwaco; Columbia Memorial, Astoria, OR 19 miles
• Major Highways: US 101, SR 6, SR 103, SR 401, SR 105
• Nearest city of 100k+ population: Hillsboro, OR 99 miles 2:18 drive from Long Beach, Vancouver, WA 108 miles 2:07 drive.
• Nearest Major City: Portland, OR 116 miles from Long Beach 2:17 drive

Northhead Lighthouse, Cape Disappointment, WA

Pacific County is just a tad further away from the nearest large metro area from neighboring Clatsop County. Like Clatsop, this county offers rugged mountains as well as the beautiful coastline. The Long Beach Peninsula offers a long uninterrupted 27 miles of beach and a near equal amount of parallel bayfront just 2 miles to the east of the beaches. There is an additional 4-5 miles of sandy beaches north of the Long Beach peninsula as well accessed from Raymond. In Additional to the Pacific coastline there is a similar amount of Columbia River waterfront to Clatsop and a very large Bayfront coastline featuring more than 90 miles of shoreline on the Willapa Bay. If beachfront isn't your thing, but water views are, Pacific County has much to offer with housing prices far lower than Clatsop in Oregon. In general Washington State has a lower tax burden than Oregon as well. Pacific County like Clatsop has a marine coastal climate with mild weather all year round. Long Beach is a smaller version of Seaside offering family fun and further north up the peninsula the beach becomes more residential and quiet.

Grays Harbor County, Washington

Statistics: 

• County Population: 75,636 (2020)
• County Area: 2224 square miles, 1902 on land
• Roughly 39 miles of Pacific coastline
• Highest point: 4884 feet, Wynoochee Point
• Largest City: Aberdeen, population17,013  (2020)
• Seat of Government: Montesano
• Largest beachfront town: Ocean Shores, population 6715 (2020)
• Median home price: $358,311
• Most expensive town: Pacific Beach median price $925,738
• Taxes: mean property tax 1%, 8.9% sales tax, no income tax
• Nearest Costco Store: Olympia, WA 49 miles from Aberdeen, 87 miles from Ocean Shores
• Nearest Hospital: Harbor Regional, Aberdeen, 23 miles from Ocean Shores; Summit Pacific, Elma, 20 miles east of Aberdeen 
• Major Highways: US 101, US 12, SR 8, SR 105, SR107, SR 109
• Nearest city of 100k + population: Tacoma, WA 79 miles 1:17 drive from Aberdeen; 101 miles and 1:53 drive from Ocean Shores 
• Nearest Major City: Seattle, WA 109 miles from Aberdeen 1:47 drive; 132 miles 2:31 drive from Ocean Shores

Grays Harbor County is north of Pacific County and thus finds itself closer to Seattle than Portland. Although it has the most Pacific oceanfront of the three areas, a third of it is within the Quinault Indian Reservation. Like its southern neighbor, Pacific County, there is a large salt water bay with more than 60 miles of Grays Harbor bayfront shoreline. There is plenty of water view properties. Like the other two you can find rugged mountains nearby and the Olympic National Park even touches the area. This county has arguably the nicest beachfront community of the three areas with Ocean Shores a well designed and upscale community that is also one of the largest oceanfront town in the three counties. Seaside, OR and Ocean Shores are close in size with Ocean Shores a bit more sleepy and quiet contrasting Seaside's busy tourist vibe. Grays Harbor also contains the most dense city area among the three counties with Aberdeen and surrounding communities packed in at the mouth of the Chehalis River. That said, Greater Aberdeen is still fairly small and does not substitute for a larger city with 50k-100k people. Olympia, Washington is only 50 miles away and has a significant level of services.

Conclusion:

It is hard to say, but if price is important, then Clatsop has to be last. The median price will not get much near the beach and oceanfront properties will run in the millions. Between Pacific and Grays Harbor the difference is harder to identify. From the beach, Grays Harbor county has a longer drive to access to the interior metro areas but it has Olympia just 50 miles away and despite Olympia having a smallish population of just 52,000 people, it is the state capitol and has a substantial level of services. The bulk of Clatsop County services are very close to the bulk of Pacific Counties beach cities. There is a symbiosis of sorts and the two regions are connected by the Astoria Bridge on US 101. From Seaside, OR to Long Beach, WA is 33 miles and completely connects several cities and towns along the route including the Oregon beach towns Seaside, Gearhart, Surf Pines, SunsetBeach, the Columbia River towns of Warrenton, Astoria, Chinook, Ilwaco, and more beach towns in Washington, Oceanview, Seaview, and Long Beach. This connectivity and symbiotic relationship including the border economics between the two states gives Pacific County the clear win in this three way battle for coastal supremacy. If home prices and taxes are removed from the equation Clatsop starts to look real good. But price and taxes are rarely out of the equation.