Best PlacesCleveland Heights, Oakland, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Cleveland Heights, Oakland, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Cleveland Heights, Oakland ranks 1,398th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Cleveland Heights, Oakland
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.
Cleveland Heights, Oakland's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cleveland Heights, Oakland ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than 92% of neighborhoods
- Nice weatherabout 223 pleasant days a year, better than 90% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than 88% of neighborhoods
- Health outlookBetter than 86% of neighborhoods
Where Cleveland Heights, Oakland ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,082 a month, better than only 5% of neighborhoods
- Short commute32.0 minutes each way, better than only 12% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 13% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than only 22% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Cleveland Heights, Oakland
A household needs to earn about $274,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cleveland Heights, Oakland home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $120,080, 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 Cleveland Heights, Oakland's effective rate of 0.82%, 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 Cleveland Heights, Oakland
Cleveland Heights, Oakland's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Cleveland Heights, Oakland.
Who works in Cleveland Heights, Oakland, and how
Work in Cleveland Heights, Oakland centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 47%
- Work from home 33%
- Transit, walk, or bike 20%
Life in Cleveland Heights, Oakland
The coast is about 16 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Cleveland Heights, Oakland, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Cleveland Heights, Oakland, month by month
Cleveland Heights, Oakland 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 Cleveland Heights, Oakland
San Francisco Bay Oakland International sits about 6 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 4.5 million passengers in 2025, with 64 nonstop destinations.
Cleveland Heights, Oakland 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 Cleveland Heights, Oakland against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Cleveland Heights, Oakland
Is Cleveland Heights, Oakland a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cleveland Heights, Oakland ranks 1,398th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on fast internet, biking, and the weather, and lowest on childcare costs and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cleveland Heights, Oakland expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,045,980. The overall cost of living runs about 23% above the national average. Set against a $120,080 median income, cost of living beats 76% of neighborhoods.
Is Cleveland Heights, Oakland safe?
Cleveland Heights, Oakland is safer than 22% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $700 per resident a year.
Compare Cleveland Heights, Oakland with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cleveland Heights, Oakland. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cleveland Heights, Oakland 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.
Cleveland Heights, Oakland detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cleveland Heights, Oakland: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cleveland Heights, Oakland: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cleveland Heights, Oakland: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cleveland Heights, Oakland: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cleveland Heights, Oakland 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.
- 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.