Oakland, CA

Oakland is one of the most attractive larger cities for people who are young, single, educated, and upwardly-mobile career starters. This makes it a good place to live for young singles in their 20s and 30s and who have undergraduate or graduate degrees and are starting their professional careers. Although Oakland is a large city, this demographic is significant enough that young professionals will find many others like themselves here, with really good opportunities for friendships, recreation, romance, and more.

Oakland is also nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Such areas are often places that visitors and locals go for waterfront activities or taking in the scenery.

One downside of living in Oakland, however, is that residents on average have to contend with a long commute, spending on average 33.10 minutes every day commuting to work. It is, however, a pedestrian-friendly city. Many of its neighborhoods are dense enough and have amenities close enough together that people find it feasible to get around on foot. In addition, local public transit is widely used. For those who would prefer to avoid driving entirely and leave their car at home, it may be an option to use the transit instead.

One of the benefits of being a big city like Oakland is having a public transportation system, but in Oakland the transit system is the mode of choice for lots of people getting to and from work every day. You will find many people using the subway for their daily commute, even though other transportation options exist. If you ask these commuters, many will tell you that not having to drive in the snarl of big city traffic is one of main reasons for leaving the car at home, or even not owning a car at all. With so many people taking the subway Oakland benefits from a reduction in air pollution and traffic.

The citizens of Oakland are among the most well-educated in the nation: 46.06% of adults in Oakland have a bachelor’s degree or even advanced degree, whereas the average US city has 21.84% holding at least a bachelor’s degree.

The per capita income in Oakland in 2018 was $46,407, which is upper middle income relative to California, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $185,628 for a family of four. However, Oakland contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Oakland is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Oakland home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Oakland residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Oakland also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 26.95% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Oakland include German, Irish, English, Italian, and European.

Oakland also has a high percentage of its population that was born in another country: 26.50%.

The most common language spoken in Oakland is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Chinese.

Information provided by Neighborhood Scout.