Ocean Isle Beach 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 980 people and four associated neighborhoods, Ocean Isle Beach is the 417th largest community in North Carolina. Ocean Isle Beach home prices are not only among the most expensive in North Carolina, but Ocean Isle Beach real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.Ocean Isle Beach is a decidedly white-collar town, with fully 92.37% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Ocean Isle Beach is a town of managers, sales and office workers, and professionals. There are especially a lot of people living in Ocean Isle Beach who work in management occupations (25.85%), sales jobs (23.73%), and business and financial occupations (8.90%). Also of interest is that Ocean Isle Beach has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 35.59% 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 Ocean Isle Beach is an extremely popular destination for tourists and seasonal residents. So much of the population is seasonal such that the town’s population swells significantly during the vacation season, and drops again when the season ends. Because of this, much of the local economy is centered around tourism; some businesses may be operated only during the high season. During the low season, year-round residents will notice that the city is a substantially quieter place to live. It is a fairly quiet town because there are relatively few of those groups of people who have a tendency to be noisy. (Children, for example, often can't help themselves from being noisy, and being parents ourselves, we know!) Ocean Isle Beach has relatively few families with children living at home, and is quieter because of it. Renters and college students, for their own reasons, can also be noisy. Ocean Isle Beach has few renters and college students. But the biggest reason it is quieter in Ocean Isle Beach than in most places in America, is that there are just simply fewer people living here. If you think trees make good neighbors, Ocean Isle Beach may be for you. One of the nice things about Ocean Isle Beach 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. As is often the case in a small town, Ocean Isle Beach doesn't have a public transportation system that people use for their commute.If knowledge is power, Ocean Isle Beach is a pretty powerful place. 64.35% of the adults in Ocean Isle Beach 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 Ocean Isle Beach in 2022 was $80,685, which is wealthy relative to North Carolina and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $322,740 for a family of four. However, Ocean Isle Beach contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. The people who call Ocean Isle Beach home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Ocean Isle Beach residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Ocean Isle Beach include English, Irish, German, Italian, and Scots-Irish. The most common language spoken in Ocean Isle Beach is English. Other important languages spoken here include Polish and West Germanic languages.
