Lincoln County, Oregon

Lincoln County is a county in Oregon, United States, on the central Oregon coast, about 55 miles
west of Corvallis. It had a population of 50,395 at the 2020 census, an estimated 50,636 by 2025,
and covers 1,194 square miles (3,090 km2) centred near 44°38′N 123°55′W.

Newport is the county seat; its postal code is 97365. The county holds 7 incorporated cities, 5
census-designated places and 25 unincorporated communities, and it runs on Pacific Time. Oregon
has no civil townships, so places here are not grouped that way.

Towns & Villages in Lincoln County

Lincoln County has 37 named places on record: 7 incorporated cities, 5 census-designated places
(CDPs) with their own 2020 count, and 25 unincorporated communities with no population figure of
their own. CDP stands for census designated place; Unincorp. covers rural crossroads and beach
settlements with no formal boundary.

Two names on this list are easy to confuse. Gleneden Beach and Lincoln Beach sit next to each
other five miles south of Lincoln City — Gleneden Beach is its own long-standing
unincorporated community, while the Census Bureau’s Lincoln Beach CDP boundary wraps around it, so
the two population figures above describe overlapping but not identical areas. The old version of
this page also listed Delake, Nelscott, Oceanlake, Cutler City and Taft as separate places; they
are not. Lincoln City was incorporated in 1965 by merging exactly those communities into one city,
and the old names now survive only as neighborhood labels within its limits.

ZIP Codes

• 97365 — Newport (the county seat’s main ZIP)
• 97366 — South Beach, on Newport’s south side across Yaquina Bay
• 97367 — Lincoln City
• 97391 — Toledo
• 97341 — Depoe Bay (also serves the Lincoln Beach CDP)
• 97394 — Waldport (also serves the Bayshore CDP)
• 97372 — Rose Lodge
• 97380 — Siletz
• 97388 — Gleneden Beach
• 97364 — Neotsu
• 97498 — Yachats (also serves the San Marine CDP)

Most of the 25 unincorporated communities on the list above have no ZIP code of their own; mail
is delivered under the nearest incorporated town’s code.

Geography

Lincoln County runs about 60 miles along the Pacific Ocean, from the mouth of the Salmon River
in the north to the Yachats River in the south, with the Coast Range rising steeply inland. Of its
1,194 square miles, 980 are land and 214 are water — about 18 percent, unusually high for an
Oregon county, reflecting Yaquina Bay, Alsea Bay, Siletz Bay, Devils Lake and the ocean itself.
Yaquina Bay, crossed by the Yaquina Bay Bridge at Newport, is the county’s largest estuary and its
commercial fishing harbor. The Siletz River, Yaquina River and Alsea River each drain the Coast
Range and reach the ocean through their own bays.

Tillamook County borders Lincoln County to the north, Polk and Benton counties to the east, Lane
County to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Tillamook County, Polk County, Benton County and Lane County all border Lincoln
directly.

Demographics

Lincoln County had a population of 50,395 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts the
county near 50,636 residents by 2025. Newport and Lincoln City are the two largest communities,
together holding well over a third of the county’s population. Oregon’s statewide median household
income was $80,160 in 2023 (2023 ACS). Population density works out to roughly 51 people per square
mile of land, low compared with inland Oregon counties, reflecting a coastline broken up by forest,
bay and river rather than continuous development. The 2020 census recorded the county at 80.6
percent White, 9.6 percent Hispanic or Latino, and 3.6 percent American Indian and Alaska Native
— a share tied to the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, whose reservation trust lands lie
around Siletz.

Economy & Local Life

Tourism, commercial fishing, health services and construction are the county’s dominant
sectors. Newport is one of Oregon’s two major commercial fishing ports, alongside Astoria, and its
waterfront also carries the Oregon Coast Aquarium and Oregon State University’s Hatfield Marine
Science Center, both major regional employers and visitor draws. Toledo’s economy grew around a
Georgia-Pacific pulp and paper mill that ran on timber floated down the Yaquina River. Lincoln
City’s largest employers include the Chinook Winds Casino, run by the Confederated Tribes of
Siletz Indians, and Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital. The Siletz Reservation, restored to federal
recognition in 1977, hosts the tribe’s annual Nesika Illahee Pow Wow each August at Siletz.
Lincoln City markets itself as the “Kite Capital of the World” and runs summer and
fall kite festivals on its beach.

History

The Oregon Legislature created Lincoln County on 20 February 1893, carving it out of Benton and
Polk counties and naming it for Abraham Lincoln. Toledo served as temporary county seat until a
1954 referendum moved county government to Newport, the county’s largest town. U.S. Route 101,
completed through the county in 1925, and a run of Depression-era bay bridges built under engineer
Conde McCullough ended the coast’s earlier isolation from the rest of Oregon.

The county’s Native history predates its 1893 creation by decades. President Franklin Pierce
created the Coast Indian Reservation, later the Siletz Reservation, by executive order on 9
November 1855, moving tribes from across western Oregon onto roughly 1.1 million acres along the
Siletz River. The Western Oregon Indian Termination Act ended federal recognition for the tribes
there in 1954; the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians won it back on 18 November 1977, becoming
only the second US tribe restored to federal status, and today hold about 4,000 acres of trust
land near Siletz.

Lincoln City itself dates only to 1965, when voters merged the towns of Oceanlake and Taft with
the unincorporated communities of Cutler City and Nelscott under a name chosen by local
schoolchildren in a naming contest, to avoid arguments over whose town name would survive.

Getting There

U.S. Route 101 runs the full length of the county along the coast, linking every incorporated
city. U.S. Route 20 starts at Newport and runs east, its western terminus; Oregon Route 18 runs
east from the Lincoln City area toward the Willamette Valley, and Oregon Route 34 runs east from
Waldport. No interstate highway reaches Lincoln County.

• Corvallis — about 55 miles east of Newport via US 20
• McMinnville — about 44 miles east of Lincoln City via OR 18
• Lebanon — about 81 miles east of Waldport via OR 34

Newport Municipal Airport handles general aviation only; it lost its last scheduled airline
service in 2011. Eugene Airport and Portland International Airport are the nearest airports with
scheduled commercial service. No Amtrak line reaches the coast; the closest stations run inland
along the Willamette Valley route.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Lincoln County located?
It sits on Oregon’s central coast, about 55 miles west of Corvallis, bordered by Tillamook, Polk,
Benton and Lane counties and the Pacific Ocean.

What is the population of Lincoln County?
50,395 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 50,636.

How big is Lincoln County?
1,194 square miles (3,090 km2), of which 980 square miles are land and 214 square miles are
water.

What is the county seat of Lincoln County?
Newport, county seat since a 1954 referendum moved it there from Toledo.

How many towns and cities are in Lincoln County?
Seven incorporated cities — Newport, Lincoln City, Toledo, Waldport, Depoe Bay, Siletz and
Yachats — plus five census-designated places and 25 unincorporated communities.

What ZIP codes does Lincoln County use?
97365 and 97366 for Newport and South Beach; 97367 for Lincoln City; 97391 for Toledo; 97341 for
Depoe Bay; 97394 for Waldport; 97372 for Rose Lodge; 97380 for Siletz; 97388 for Gleneden Beach;
97364 for Neotsu; and 97498 for Yachats.

What is Lincoln County known for?
Its commercial fishing fleet at Newport, the Oregon Coast Aquarium, Lincoln City’s kite festivals,
and the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, restored to federal recognition in 1977.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Oregon.