Seadrift's housing stock is modest and unpretentious, in keeping with its identity as a working coastal town. Homes tend to be single-family houses on in-town lots, with a mix of older frame construction and newer builds, plus a scattering of bayside and canal-front properties oriented toward boat access. Many homes sit within easy reach of the water, and docks and boat slips are common amenities for properties on the bayou and bayfront. Lot sizes are generally compact in town and larger on the outskirts. The market serves a mix of long-time local families, retirees, and buyers seeking an affordable coastal base for fishing and boating.

Seadrift is compact enough that it functions as a single community rather than a set of named subdivisions, but its geography divides it into a few recognizable areas. The original town grid near the bay holds the older homes and the commercial core, while canal- and bayfront streets host the town's waterfront properties and working docks. Farther from the water, residential streets become more open and rural. The small footprint means most homes are a short drive—or walk—from the boat ramps, harbor, and the bay itself.

Daily life in Seadrift centers on the water. Commercial shrimping and oystering remain visible parts of the local economy, and recreational fishing, crabbing, and boating are woven into everyday routines. The community is small and neighborly, with the annual Seadrift Shrimpfest standing as the signature civic event, celebrating the town's seafood heritage with food, music, and gatherings. Birders are drawn by the nearby whooping cranes and the vast wetlands of the mid-coast, and the pace of life is deliberately unhurried. It is a town for people who want the working Gulf Coast as their front yard.

Seadrift is served by the Calhoun County Independent School District. Students attend Seadrift School, a community campus in town, through eighth grade, then travel to Calhoun High School in Port Lavaca, about 18 miles away, for high school. The small, single-campus elementary and middle school arrangement keeps younger students close to home, while the high school consolidates the county's older students in the district's larger facilities. The district is small enough that the school community is tightly connected to the town.

Seadrift is reached by state highways that tie it to the rest of Calhoun County: Port Lavaca, the county seat, lies about 18 miles to the northeast, and Victoria is a short drive inland. The town's roads are quiet and rural, suited to its low population, and there is no rail or public transit service. For air travel, residents use regional airports in Victoria or larger airports in Houston and Corpus Christi. Within town, the compact street grid makes most trips short, and much of daily travel revolves around the boat ramps and waterfront rather than long commutes.

San Antonio Bay is Seadrift's primary recreational asset, offering saltwater fishing, boating, kayaking, and crabbing in the protected inshore waters of the Texas mid-coast. The bay's shallow flats and channels are productive year-round, and the town's boat ramps and harbor make access easy. Across the water, the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge protects more than 100,000 acres of coastal marsh, prairie, and oak woodland and serves as the winter home of the endangered whooping crane, drawing birders from across the country. Fishing tournaments and the annual Shrimpfest round out a recreation calendar built around the water and wildlife.