Oxnard, CA Economic Overview
Oxnard, is a casual, seaside city located along the central coast of Southern California, distinguished by oceanfront recreation, festivals, exceptional weather, and miles of uncrowded beaches. Oxnard is the 19th-most populous city in California, and the most populous in Ventura County, home to 207,000 residents. The City lies approximately 60 miles west of downtown Los Angeles and is part of the Greater Los Angeles area. Oxnard is a major transportation hub in Southern California, home to the California Strawberry Festival, and neighbor to the breathtaking Channel Islands National Park and National Marine Sanctuary. The highly desirable Oxnard commercial real estate is characterized by one and two-story buildings, located among a combination of neighborhoods and urban development focused in the downtown, coastline, and harbor areas. The city’s surroundings are agricultural land, the Pacific Ocean, and the Santa Clara River, making it not only an economically attractive place to live, work, and play, but also a scenic one.
The City of Oxnard is known as the gateway to the Channel Islands National Park, originally named for the Oxnard brothers who began an agricultural business here in the 1870s. Today, Oxnard is a thriving center of commerce, tourism, and industry in Ventura County. Economic activity in Oxnard is driven primarily by defense, international trade, agriculture, manufacturing and tourism activities. The City is one of the key manufacturing centers in the Greater Los Angeles Area, and is located near the Port of Hueneme, the busiest and only deep-harbor commercial port between Los Angeles and San Francisco. The Port is vital to trade with Pacific Rim economies and plays a prominent role in the economic activity of the area. Companies utilizing the Port include Del Monte Foods, Chiquita, BMW, Land Rover, and Jaguar. Oxnard is also in the vicinity of large active oil fields - the Oxnard Oil Field and the West Montalvo Oil Field. Major employers in the area include Naval Base Ventura County, with 80 tenant commands and a base population of 19,000. Moreover, the Oxnard Plain is well known for its strawberry production and makes Oxnard California’s largest strawberry producer, supplying about one-third of the state’s annual strawberry demand. Channel Islands Harbor and the city’s beaches, parks, festivals and golf courses also support a strong tourism sector. Businesses continue to expand in Oxnard following the hosting of the 2015 Special Olympics.
Oxnard, CA Commercial Real Estate Market
Oxnard is a city brimming with history and old architectural prominence. The Henry T. Oxnard Historic District is a 70-acre historic district, between Palm and 5th street, that includes 139 buildings and homes built before 1925. The Oxnard office market has seen rental rates trend upwards, with a median increase of $2 per square foot per year. Compared to the rest of the Metropolitan Los Angeles market, Oxnard maintains similar rates. The standard measurement for office space in this area is around 1,590 square feet, with most properties in this region close to 2 floors.
Downtown Oxnard is located at the very heart of the City, with the beach directly to the west, just a short drive from the city and Port Hueneme. The Downtown Oxnard office market is full of business plazas, surrounded by several museums and shopping centers. These include the Mullin Automotive Museum, the Channel Islands Maritime Museum, and The Collection at Riverpark.
Oxnard, CA Office Rental Rates ($/SF/year)
Data provided by Yardi Matrix, for properties larger than 50K SF.
Oxnard, CA Office Sales
Data provided by Yardi Matrix, for properties larger than 50K SF, which sold at over $5M.
Oxnard, CA Commercial Inventory Breakdown
Office Spaces
Total: 2,509,395 SF
By square footage range:
- 50k to 100k SF: 320,627 SF / 12.78% of total office
- 100k to 500k SF: 1,480,768 SF / 59.01% of total office
- 500k to 1M SF: 708,000 SF / 28.21% of total office
By class:
- Class A: 1,208,909 SF / 48.18% of total office
- Class B: 991,057 SF / 39.49% of total office
Industrial
Total: 22,031,163 SF
By square footage range:
- 50k to 100k SF: 3,808,271 SF / 17.29% of total industrial
- 100k to 500k SF: 6,994,073 SF / 31.75% of total industrial
- 500k to 1M SF: 3,304,819 SF / 15% of total industrial
- > 1M SF: 7,924,000 SF / 35.97% of total industrial
By class:
- Class A: 8,225,816 SF / 37.34% of total industrial
- Class B: 6,843,408 SF / 31.06% of total industrial
- Class C: 470,847 SF / 2.14% of total industrial
Office Spaces with Retail
Total: 4,260,375 SF
By square footage range:
- 50k to 100k SF: 1,053,733 SF / 24.73% of total office with retail
- 100k to 500k SF: 3,206,642 SF / 75.27% of total office with retail
Employment in Oxnard, CA
Employment in Oxnard has grown steadily in recent years, averaging at 1.5%, with most employees being involved in the Education Services and Healthcare, followed by Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing, Hunting, and Mining, and Retail Trade. The unemployment rate in Ventura County was 4.5% in June 2017, below the 2016 estimate of 5.2%, compared with a rate of 4.9% for the rest of California.
According to the BLS, the industries in the Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Venture, CA area with the highest employment numbers include:
- Trade, Transportation, and Utilities—currently employs 57,900, growing at 0.2%/year
- Education and health services—currently employs 48,800, growing at 1.2%/year
- Government– currently employs 48,200, flat yearly growth rate
Education in Oxnard, CA
The city of Oxnard is served by 54 public school campuses which provide education to more than 53,000 students in grades K–12. There are a number of private K–8 schools including the non-denominational Mary Law Private School and several Catholic schools, which are administered by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
Oxnard is served on the collegiate level by Oxnard College and nearby California State University Channel Islands. Additionally, California Lutheran University, California State University, Northridge, ITT, University of Phoenix, University of California, Santa Barbara, National University and Azusa Pacific University have satellite campuses in Oxnard.
Commuting Time in Oxnard, CA
The Ventura Freeway (US 101) serves as the major highway running through Oxnard, connecting Ventura and Santa Barbara to the northwest, and Los Angeles to the southeast. The Pacific Coast Highway (State Route 1) heads down the coast south to Malibu. The Oxnard Transportation Center serves as a major transit hub for the city, as well as the west county, including local bus service in the cities of Oxnard, Port Hueneme, Ventura, and Ojai. Oxnard hosts many other transport options, including sea and air:
- The Port of Hueneme is located to the south in the city of Port Hueneme, and is jointly operated by the U.S. Navy and Oxnard Harbor District.
- Oxnard is also home to the Channel Islands Harbor, with the Ventura Harbor located seven miles north
- Oxnard Airport is a general aviation airport within the city owned and operated by the County of Ventura. Oxnard is located just 75 minutes northwest of Los Angeles Airport and 60 minutes south of Barbara Airport.
- Metrolink: 10 round trip Pacific Surfliners operate daily through Los Angeles to San Diego
Employees in Oxnard have a shorter average commute time of 23.9 minutes than the national average of 24.8 minutes. The largest share of workers in Oxnard drive alone to work, followed by those who carpool and work at home.
Oxnard Demographics
Population
- Total Population208,154
- Male Population(50.6 %) 105,247
- Female Population(49.4 %) 102,907
- Median Age32.30
Income/Financial
- Average Household Income$88,896
- Median Household Income$72,843
- Median Income Under 25$50,893
- Median Income 25-44$72,432
- Median Income 45-64$81,918
- Median Income Over 65$55,695