Tillamook County

Tillamook County, Oregon — key demographics

Source: U.S. Census Bureau (2020 Decennial Census; 2019–2023 American Community Survey 5-year estimates)

Population size

• Total population: 27,390 (2020 Census)

Age

• Median age: about 49 years (ACS 2019–2023)
• Under 18: ~19%
• 18 to 64: ~55%
• 65 and over: ~26%

Gender

• Female: ~50%
• Male: ~50%

Race and ethnicity (ACS 2019–2023)

• White, non-Hispanic: ~84%
• Hispanic or Latino (any race): ~11%
• Two or more races, non-Hispanic: ~3%
• American Indian/Alaska Native, non-Hispanic: ~1%
• Asian, non-Hispanic: <1%
• Black or African American, non-Hispanic: <1%
• Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic: <1%

Households and housing (ACS 2019–2023)

• Households: ~11,900
• Average household size: ~2.3
• Family households: ~62% of households (about 48% married-couple)
• Tenure: ~74% owner-occupied, ~26% renter-occupied
• Median household income: around $63,000
• Persons below poverty level: ~12%

Brief insights

• Older age structure: median age near 49 and roughly one-quarter 65+, higher than Oregon overall.
• Predominantly non-Hispanic White with a sizable and growing Hispanic/Latino community (~1 in 9 residents).
• Small household sizes and high owner-occupancy typical of coastal/rural counties with many second homes.

Email usage snapshot: Tillamook County, Oregon

• Population and density: ~28,000 residents; ~25 people per square mile across ~1,100 sq mi of land (rural, dispersed).
• Estimated email users (13+): ~22,000, about 78–80% of residents.
• Age distribution of email users (share of users): 13–17: ~5%; 18–29: ~15%; 30–49: ~30%; 50–64: ~27%; 65+: ~23% (older tilt locally, but slightly lower adoption among seniors keeps their share near one-quarter).
• Gender split among users: Female ~51%, Male ~49%, mirroring the county’s population.
• Digital access and connectivity:
  • Households with a broadband subscription: ~82–84%.
  • Households with no home internet: ~10–12%.
  • Smartphone-only internet households: ~6–8%.
  • Access is strongest along the US‑101 coastal corridor (Tillamook, Bay City, Rockaway Beach, Manzanita, Pacific City) where cable/fiber are present; inland valleys and forested areas rely more on DSL and fixed wireless.
  • Low population density and rugged terrain drive pockets of limited or sub‑broadband performance and higher last‑mile costs, shaping adoption and usage patterns.

Implication: Email penetration is broad across working-age adults and remains robust among retirees, with infrastructure gaps mainly outside incorporated coastal communities.

Mobile phone usage in Tillamook County, Oregon — 2024 snapshot

Scale and user estimates

• Population baseline: 27,390 (2020 Census). Roughly 11,700–12,000 households.
• Adult smartphone users: about 18,000–19,000 residents (estimated 80–83% of adults), below Oregon’s statewide adult smartphone adoption (~88–90%).
• Households with at least one smartphone: approximately 10,300–10,600 households (≈86–90%).
• Mobile-only internet households (no fixed broadband, rely primarily on cellular): estimated 14–16% of households, higher than Oregon overall (~11–12%).
• Prepaid lines: estimated 30–35% of active phone lines in-county, higher than the state average (roughly low- to mid-20s%), reflecting older and lower-density rural markets where prepaid is common.

Demographic drivers of usage (how Tillamook differs from Oregon)

• Older population share: roughly one-quarter to nearly one-third of residents are 65+, versus less than one-fifth statewide. This age profile depresses smartphone adoption and drives simpler-device and voice/SMS-heavy usage.
• Income and education: median household income is lower than the Oregon median, and bachelor’s degree attainment is lower; both correlate with slightly lower 5G-device penetration and higher prepaid reliance.
• Seasonal population swing: large summer tourism influx (coastal towns and parks) creates pronounced, seasonal spikes in mobile traffic and temporary congestion that are more extreme than typical Oregon counties.
• Workforce mix: agriculture, forestry, and hospitality sectors depend on coverage outside town centers, making reliable rural LTE more critical relative to metropolitan Oregon.

Digital infrastructure and coverage

• Cellular coverage pattern:
  • Strongest along US-101 through towns such as Tillamook, Garibaldi, Rockaway Beach, and Pacific City; performance degrades quickly in forested interior and canyons.
  • OR-6 (through the Tillamook State Forest toward the Portland metro) has persistent dead zones and weak signal pockets; this corridor is materially less reliable than state urban corridors.
• 4G LTE: Broad outdoor coverage in populated coastal strips from Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile; inland valleys have gaps and reduced capacity.
• 5G:
  • Mid-band/sub-6 5G available along the 101 corridor and in/near Tillamook and nearby coastal towns; inland 5G remains sparse.
  • County-level population coverage is meaningfully below Oregon’s statewide 5G population coverage, which is driven by Portland, Salem, Eugene, and I-5 corridor buildouts.
  • mmWave 5G is effectively absent outside micro hot spots (if any), unlike select dense urban Oregon locations.
• Fixed wireless access (FWA):
  • T-Mobile 5G Home Internet is available along much of the coastal corridor; Verizon 5G Home is more limited. Take-up is rising where cable/DSL is weak, contributing to the elevated “mobile-only” share.
• Wireline broadband context:
  • Charter Spectrum provides cable internet in and around town centers; CenturyLink/Lumen legacy DSL persists in many outlying areas; fiber-to-the-home is limited and highly localized.
  • Tillamook Lightwave, a public middle-mile fiber consortium, improves institutional connectivity and backhaul, but last-mile fiber to residences and rural businesses remains patchy compared with statewide urban norms.
• Resilience and public safety:
  • Coastal hazard profile (tsunami/earthquake) and Coast Range weather emphasize backup power and microwave backhaul; inland forest canyons see quicker service degradation during storms than most Oregon metros.
  • Wireless Emergency Alerts penetration is good in towns but less dependable in canyons, reinforcing the reliance on multi-carrier devices among first responders and businesses.

Usage traits versus Oregon statewide

• Slightly lower smartphone penetration and slower 5G device upgrades due to older age mix and lower income.
• Higher prepaid and mobile-only household shares, reflecting limited fixed broadband choices in rural tracts and second-home users who avoid full-time cable subscriptions.
• More pronounced seasonal congestion on 101 and in beach towns; operators deploy temporary capacity (COWs) during peak events more frequently than in inland counties.
• Greater dependence on LTE for work in agriculture/forestry zones, where 5G has not yet matched statewide urban reach.

Actionable implications

• Coverage investments that matter most locally: additional macro sites and mid-band 5G along OR-6 and interior valleys; backup power on coastal sites; targeted small cells in summer hotspots.
• Market strategy: prepaid and budget postpaid plans, Wi-Fi calling optimization, and FWA bundles are likely to outperform premium urban-oriented offers.
• Public-sector coordination: leveraging Tillamook Lightwave for backhaul and pursuing BEAD/USDA funding for last-mile fiber will reduce the county’s above-average reliance on cellular for home internet.

Social media usage in Tillamook County, OR (2025 snapshot)

• Population context

  • Residents: ~28,000 (2023 est.); adults (18+): ~22,000
  • Older-leaning profile: median age ~47; roughly one-quarter of residents are 65+
  • Connectivity: ~84% of households have broadband; ~85% of adults own a smartphone

• Overall usage

  • Adults using at least one social platform: 75% (16,000–17,000 people)

• Most‑used platforms (share of adults who use the platform; modeled local estimates)

  • YouTube: 82%
  • Facebook: 72%
  • Instagram: 38%
  • Pinterest: 33%
  • TikTok: 28%
  • Snapchat: 22%
  • LinkedIn: 21%
  • Nextdoor: 12%
  • X (Twitter): 10%
  • Reddit: 10%

• Age profile of social media users (share of local user base)

  • 18–29: ~16%
  • 30–49: ~32%
  • 50–64: ~27%
  • 65+: ~25%

• Gender breakdown among users

  • Women: ~52%
  • Men: ~48%

• Behavioral trends

  • Facebook Groups and local Pages drive daily engagement for community news, school updates, road closures, emergency and weather alerts, and buy/sell/trade.
  • Tourism season (May–September) lifts Instagram and TikTok activity around beaches, trails, and the Tillamook Creamery; short-form video with location tags outperforms photos.
  • Practical, time-sensitive posts perform best: closures, surf/tide and fishing conditions, event reminders, and service outages see the highest shares and clicks.
  • Pinterest use centers on coastal trip planning, recipes, DIY/home projects; audience skews female 25–54.
  • Nextdoor is used mainly in Tillamook, Bay City, and Rockaway Beach for service recommendations and safety notices.
  • Private messaging (Facebook Messenger, Instagram DMs) is increasingly used for customer service and bookings during peak tourism.

Notes: Figures are modeled from ACS county demographics and recent U.S. platform adoption benchmarks (e.g., Pew Research 2024) to reflect Tillamook County’s older, rural-coastal profile; percentages rounded to the nearest whole number.