7 Best Places To Live On The Pacific Coast In 2025

Remote work untethered you, housing sticker-shock humbled you, and now the Pacific Coast is calling, but not to the usual postcard spots. The seven towns ahead turned 2025’s coastal challenges (price spikes, climate quirks, tourist tides) into fresh perks you can live on: brewpubs inside rescued cannery sheds, fiber-optic internet strung beneath century-old piers, rent-free views of whales, or research vessels instead of gridlocked freeways. We measured what locals measure — median house prices under the regional norm, storefronts still opened by the owner, and river miles you can paddle after work. Sun-drenched boardwalk celebrity? Pass. Affordable, ocean-tempered life with room for your kayak rack and creative career? Right this way.

Eureka, California

Eureka is home to one of the largest collections of original Victorian architecture in the western United States, including the Carson Mansion, arguably the most photographed Victorian house in the country.

The town is also the headquarters of the Yurok Tribe, California’s largest, and hosts the Clarke Historical Museum, which maintains one of the state’s most comprehensive Native American basketry collections. Just south of town, the Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge is a key Pacific Flyway stopover with tidal wetlands and a 2.1-mile Shorebird Loop Trail.

Old Town Eureka contains dozens of independent businesses, including Los Bagels, a longstanding cafe known for its Slug Slime bagel spread (jalapeno, lime, and cilantro). The Morris Graves Museum of Art, inside the city’s 1902 Carnegie Library, holds rotating exhibitions of West Coast artists. Sequoia Park Zoo, California’s oldest, features a red panda habitat and a network of canopy walkways through the adjoining old-growth redwood forest. As of April 2025, Eureka’s median housing price is $420,000.

Crescent City, California

Crescent City sits just west of Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, where coast redwoods, the tallest living trees on Earth, tower over 350 feet, and its coastline has also endured some of the Pacific’s most powerful tsunamis. The city is home to Battery Point Lighthouse, one of the first lighthouses on the California coast, built in 1856. Accessible only at low tide, the lighthouse now functions as a museum operated by the Del Norte County Historical Society, featuring period furniture and maritime artifacts. Ocean World, a local aquarium, provides interactive experiences such as tide pool touch tanks and sea lion shows.

Crescent City's median home price is approximately $400,000, positioning it as an affordable option on the Pacific Coast. The city's dining options include SeaQuake Brewing, known for its craft beers and menu items like fish tacos and specialty pizzas, and the Good Harvest Café, which emphasizes fresh, locally sourced ingredients.

Coos Bay, Oregon

Coos Bay is the largest city on the state’s southern coast. It is bordered by the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, home to 500-foot shifting sand dunes and year-round access for hiking and off-highway vehicles. The bay itself forms one of the deepest natural harbors between San Francisco and Seattle, supporting a working waterfront and oyster farming. The Coos Art Museum, housed in a 1936 Art Deco post office, maintains a permanent collection of Pacific Northwest art. The Egyptian Theatre, with an original Wurlitzer organ, hosts film nights, lectures, and civic events. The Coos History Museum sits on the waterfront and focuses on local tribal, shipbuilding, and timber history.

Parks and trails include Mingus Park in the city center, with a pond and Japanese-style footbridge, and the 5-mile trail system at South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve. Local restaurants include 7 Devils Brewing Co. (beer and live music), Shark Bites Café (seafood tacos, espresso), and Blue Heron Bistro (German and seafood menu). Finally, the median home price in Coos Bay is approximately $300,000.

Astoria, Oregon

Astoria was the first permanent U.S. settlement west of the Rockies, founded in 1811 by the Pacific Fur Company. The Astoria Column, a 125-foot tower built in 1926, depicts scenes from regional history and stands above the city on Coxcomb Hill. Below, the Columbia River Maritime Museum documents shipwrecks, bar pilots, and the region’s connection to international trade. The Flavel House Museum, once home to a river bar pilot, preserves Victorian architecture and period furnishings from the late 1800s. A trolley from 1913 runs along the riverfront during warmer months.

Astoria’s median home price is $500,000, well below the coastal California average but above most Oregon coast towns. The city has a functioning port, hospital, and walkable downtown supported by both tourism and maritime industries. Astoria’s dining and cultural venues operate year-round. Bowpicker Fish & Chips, a dry-docked boat on Duane Street, serves albacore tuna battered in beer. Blue Scorcher Bakery & Café sells house-made breads and vegetarian dishes in a worker-owned setting. Fort George Brewery produces small-batch IPAs and hosts live music. The Astoria Riverwalk stretches over five miles, connecting commercial docks with wildlife areas and cafés. Annual events include the FisherPoets Gathering and the Scandinavian Midsummer Festival.

Newport, Oregon

Newport houses the largest marine research presence on the U.S. West Coast (outside California), anchored by the Hatfield Marine Science Center and the NOAA Marine Operations Center-Pacific. It is one of the few towns where oceanographic research vessels dock within city limits. The Oregon Coast Aquarium, located on Yaquina Bay, features a walk-through shark tunnel and an outdoor seabird aviary. Across the bay, the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse, built in 1871, is open to the public and preserved as a state heritage site. Local artists exhibit regularly at the Newport Visual Arts Center near Nye Beach.

The city’s commercial fishing fleet offloads at Port Dock 5, where sea lions gather year-round beneath the piers. Nearby, Local Ocean Seafoods operates as a restaurant and fish market, sourcing directly from those vessels. Panini Bakery supplies sourdough bread and operates a takeout window facing the beach. South Beach State Park offers beach access and a paved trail system through the shore pine forest. Lastly, the median home price in Newport is approximately $510,000.

Sequim, Washington

Sequim lies in the Olympic Rain Shadow, receiving less than 17 inches of annual rainfall, about one-third of nearby coastal towns. This microclimate supports lavender farming, and Sequim hosts the annual Lavender Festival in July with farms like Purple Haze and Jardin du Soleil offering public tours. The Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge, just north of town, includes the Dungeness Spit, the longest natural sand spit in the U.S., with a 5.5-mile hike to a working lighthouse. The Sequim Museum & Arts displays artifacts from the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe's history, early settler life, and rotating art exhibits.

The city’s walkable downtown features Sequim Civic Center Plaza, Hurricane Coffee Co., and Rainshadow Café, which roasts its own beans. Oak Table Café serves baked apple pancakes and is a fixture on Washington breakfast lists. The Olympic Discovery Trail runs through Sequim, offering cycling and running access to Port Angeles and beyond. Sequim Bay State Park includes a protected inlet and tent camping less than five miles from city limits. The median home price in Sequim is approximately $520,000.

Aberdeen, Washington

Aberdeen is the birthplace of Kurt Cobain, and the city maintains several sites tied to his early life, including the Young Street Bridge, now unofficially marked with graffiti tributes, and the Kurt Cobain Memorial Park on the banks of the Wishkah River. The Aberdeen Museum of History, currently being rebuilt after a 2018 fire, previously featured local logging history and Nirvana memorabilia, and its restoration remains a community priority. Aberdeen is a working port city, with commercial terminals on the Chehalis River and direct access to U.S. Route 101. The downtown includes the restored D&R Theatre, which books live touring acts and film screenings.

Morrison Riverfront Park offers a riverside walking path, public art installations, and access to the waterfront redevelopment area. Billy’s Bar & Grill operates in a former 1904 brothel and serves steaks and seafood. Tinderbox Coffee Roasters supplies house-roasted beans and pastries on Heron Street. Nearby, the Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge attracts migrating shorebirds each spring. Aberdeen is a gateway to Pacific beaches and the Quinault Rainforest via Highway 101. As of April 2025, the median home price in Aberdeen is approximately $270,000.

From tsunami-tested Crescent City to lavender-scented Sequim, these seven Pacific outposts prove livability isn’t measured in sunshine hours or skyscraper counts but in locally roasted coffee, harbors, and trailheads that begin at your mailbox. Median prices remain mortal, economies lean on research ships, oysters, or songs that once rattled garage doors. Choose any pin on this coastal chain and you inherit a front-row seat to weather, wildlife, and renewable possibility.