2024 Coastal Summit Agenda

Click here to view the HDR Sources of Income Presentation

The Oregon Coast Economic and Income Study, which investigates the drivers of coastal economies and economic benefit, uses 2021 data and compares it to numbers from 2003. Reports are available coastwide, as well as on a county-by-county basis. The research was conducted by Shannon Davis of The Research Group LLC, a Corvallis-based company and assisted by Hans Radtke, Ph.D. from Yachats. The report is designed as a resource to help coastal communities with useful information that informs planning and recommendations to planners and policymakers.

The study updates the indicators and analysis first used in a 1994 study report sponsored by the Oregon Coastal Zone Management Association (OCZMA). That organization sponsored several updates to the original study ending with a 2006 report using 2003 data. The information can support and help us understand the implications of change and how proper planning can sustain and acceptably grow coastal economies, protect coastal livability and manage human and environmental resources. Because this study replicates the methodology of previous OCZMA studies, it offers us all longitudinal perspective, allowing us to see what has changed in the past two decades and it is comparable data across all coastal counties which will allow us to collaborate and plan our future together.

Information for the report was gleaned from statewide studies authored by others and census data, in addition to unique industry category economic base modeling. The categories are particular to coastal local economies. Modeling results for each income measurement include multiplier effects, so that all economic contributions from household spending are taken into account. Results are interpreted for the challenges and comparative advantages the Coast has for economic development. For purposes of the study, the coastwide area includes seven counties fronting the Pacific Ocean, and information also is provided separately in the report for Columbia County. Of the seven counties included in the study, two – Douglas and Lane – are split by zip code so that only the coastal portions are represented. Report documents can be accessed online at https://visittheoregoncoast.com/industry/industry-planning-documents/.