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Depoe Bay is a small coastal city of approximately 1,515 residents on the Central Oregon Coast, known as the Whale Watching Capital of the Oregon Coast and home to what the city promotes as the world’s smallest natural navigable harbor. This page aggregates publicly available facts about the community, current real estate market data from RMLS®, and active property listings.
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Searching in: Depoe Bay, OR
Facts about Depoe Bay compiled from official and public sources. Each data point shows its vintage (when the source published it) so you know what you’re looking at.
Whale-watching capital of the Oregon Coast
2020 Decennial Census ·
Newport is county seat
Named for Siletz Indian Charles "Charley" Depoe
Single ZIP covers the city
Rocky headland above 6-acre harbor
Meaningful seasonal / second-home share
2020 Census / 2023 ACS ·
Reflects significant vacation-home inventory
2020 Census ·
One of the oldest median ages on the Oregon Coast
2020 Census ·
Via OR-99W + OR-18 + US-101 S · ~2h 30m drive
Countywide district; students attend schools in Lincoln City or Newport
2020 Census ·
25-bed hospital · ~13 mi south in Newport
Current ·
~120 mi NE · no local airport in city limits
Current ·
Cool, cloudy, rainy · moderated by the Pacific
Small sample; retiree & second-home owner share
2023 ACS 5-year ·
Rocky coast, tide pools, whale-watching viewpoints; Oregon shoreline public per state law
Oregon Beach Bill (1967) ·
6-acre natural navigable harbor · narrow 50-foot channel
Depoe Bay is among the smallest incorporated real-estate markets on the Central Coast — just 1.81 square miles of land and a housing stock of approximately 1,266 units (2020 Census). The combination of the rocky headland coastline, the iconic 6-acre harbor, and a geography that tightly limits physical expansion gives the market a small, character-rich feel.
The city’s median age of 60.1 (2020 Census) is one of the oldest on the Oregon Coast, reflecting a population heavily skewed toward retirees and part-time residents. Approximately 42% of housing units are vacant or seasonally occupied, similar in profile to peer destination communities like Manzanita or Cannon Beach, though different in character — Depoe Bay’s oceanfront is rocky rather than sandy, with tide pools, whale-watching viewpoints, and dramatic storm-watching weather.
Market prices and inventory shift meaningfully quarter-to-quarter given the small absolute transaction volume. The market snapshot at right uses live RMLS® data via our MLS integration rather than static figures that could go stale.
Note: Market statistics activate with our MLS integration and refresh automatically from RMLS® data. The housing units figure (1,266) is from the 2020 Census and will remain static until revised.
Depoe Bay is a single compact city with informal areas defined largely by proximity to the harbor and the US-101 corridor. Descriptions reflect location only; price ranges populate from live RMLS® data via our MLS integration.
Distances are approximate driving distances from central Depoe Bay. Depoe Bay sits roughly halfway between the two larger Central Coast cities of Lincoln City (north) and Newport (south).
Quick answers about Depoe Bay, each backed by an authoritative source. For questions specific to a particular property or listing, call (800) 256-9702 to reach a licensed Oregon broker.
Depoe Bay had a population of 1,515 residents as recorded in the 2020 Decennial Census. The 2025 state population estimate is 1,526. The city is among the smallest incorporated coastal cities on the Central Oregon Coast.
Depoe Bay was officially incorporated on December 14, 1973, per the Oregon Blue Book — one of the most recent incorporations on the Oregon Coast. The city is named for Charles “Charley” Depoe, a Siletz Indian who was allotted the land in 1894 under the Dawes Act.
Depoe Bay is approximately 120 miles west of Portland. Typical drive time is roughly 2 hours 30 minutes, most commonly via OR-99W + OR-18 to Lincoln City, then US-101 South for ~13 miles.
Depoe Bay is designated the Whale Watching Capital of the Oregon Coast because a small resident population of gray whales (approximately 200, per the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department) remains in Oregon’s coastal waters and feeds along this stretch from June through mid-November rather than migrating — they can be seen from shore most days during the feeding season. The OPRD operates the Whale Watching Center on the Depoe Bay seawall; during peak weeks, thousands of additional migrating gray whales pass the center on their way to and from Alaska and Mexico.
Depoe Bay students attend schools in the Lincoln County School District, a countywide district. There are no schools within Depoe Bay city limits; students attend schools in Lincoln City (to the north) or Newport (to the south) depending on zoning.
The nearest hospital is Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital in Newport, approximately 13 miles south. It is a 25-bed critical access hospital and the regional hospital for the entire Central Coast south of Lincoln City. There is no hospital within Depoe Bay city limits.
The Depoe Bay harbor is a 6-acre natural harbor that the city promotes as the world’s smallest natural navigable harbor. It connects to the Pacific via a narrow 50-foot-wide, 100-foot-long rockbound channel that supports a local fishing and charter fleet — though the channel poses navigational challenges during storms.
Yes. The entire Oregon shoreline — including Depoe Bay’s rocky headlands and tide pools — is public up to the high-tide line under the Oregon Beach Bill (1967). Unlike the long sand beaches to the north and south, Depoe Bay’s oceanfront is predominantly rocky, with public viewpoints and tide-pool access rather than walking-beach access.
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