Best PlacesAlameda County, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Alameda County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Alameda County ranks 158th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $141,465, wages outrun the cost of living, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are childcare costs, noise, and civic engagement.
The best neighborhoods in Alameda County
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
The best areas in Alameda County
The parts of Alameda County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Dublin & Livermore
More households have young kids, local pay stretches further, and incomes run higher.
Fremont
Crime runs lower, though streets are more car-dependent.
Alameda
More adults hold degrees and more residents vote.
Hayward & Union City
Fewer homes sit empty and prices have run up less.
Oakland & Berkeley
Transit reaches more jobs and biking is better.
San Leandro, Castro Valley & Ashland
Homes cost less, though health care is harder to reach.
Alameda County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 8% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Alameda County's strengths and weaknesses
Alameda County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. The weather is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Biking and transit follow.
The one real hole is childcare costs, near the bottom of the country. Noise and civic engagement also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Alameda County ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 223 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of counties
- BikingBetter than 99% of counties
- TransitBetter than 99% of counties
- Household income$141,465 median, better than 99% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of counties
Where Alameda County ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,082 a month, better than only 1% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 1% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 5% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 5% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 6% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Alameda County
A household needs to earn about $286,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Alameda County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $141,465, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Alameda County's effective rate of 0.78%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Alameda County
Alameda County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Alameda County.
Who works in Alameda County, and how
Work in Alameda County centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 61%
- Work from home 25%
- Transit, walk, or bike 14%
Life in Alameda County
The coast is about 26 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Alameda County, which the map shows.
Is Alameda County growing, and who is moving in?
Alameda County has grown about 3% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the San Francisco, CA metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Alameda County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Alameda County, month by month
Alameda County sees roughly 223 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 74 degrees. January highs sit near 61, with lows near 43. The comfortable stretch runs March through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 61° | 52° | 43° |
| April | 68° | 57° | 49° |
| July | 74° | 63° | 56° |
| October | 76° | 63° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Alameda County
San Francisco Bay Oakland International sits about 7 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 4.5 million passengers in 2025, with 64 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Alameda County
Schools across Alameda County average a B, better than 78% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Yu Ming CharterA+ · 89% proficient
- John Gomes ElementaryA+ · 85% proficient
- Wildwood ElementaryA+ · 82% proficient
Top middle schools
- Piedmont MiddleA+ · 78% proficient
- William Hopkins Junior HighA+ · 78% proficient
- Creekside MiddleA+ · 73% proficient
Top high schools
- California HighA+ · 90% proficient
- Albany HighA+ · 87% proficient
- Castro Valley HighA+ · 86% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Alameda County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Alameda County measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Alameda County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Alameda County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 91% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 25% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Alameda County
Is Alameda County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Alameda County ranks 158th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on the weather, biking, and transit, and lowest on childcare costs and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Alameda County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,098,746. The overall cost of living runs about 37% above the national average. Set against a $141,465 median income, cost of living beats 91% of counties.
Is Alameda County safe?
Alameda County is safer than 17% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $539 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Alameda County?
July highs average about 74 degrees, and January highs near 61 with lows near 43. That works out to about 223 pleasant days a year, more than 100% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Alameda County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Dublin & Livermore, Fremont, and Alameda. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Alameda County good for families?
Schools beat 78% of counties, crime safety beats 17%, and childcare runs $2,082 a month.
Is Alameda County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 91% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 95% of counties. About 25% of workers already work from home.
Compare Alameda County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Alameda County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Alameda County represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Alameda County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Alameda County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Alameda County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Alameda County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Alameda County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Alameda County detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.