Best PlacesGolden Gate, Emeryville, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Golden Gate, Emeryville, 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.
Golden Gate, Emeryville ranks 1,392nd of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Golden Gate, Emeryville
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.
Golden Gate, Emeryville's strengths and weaknesses
Where Golden Gate, Emeryville ranks high
- BikingBetter than 97% of neighborhoods
- WalkabilityBetter than 91% of neighborhoods
- Nice weatherabout 223 pleasant days a year, better than 90% of neighborhoods
- Health outlookBetter than 87% of neighborhoods
- Educational attainmentBetter than 86% of neighborhoods
Where Golden Gate, Emeryville ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,082 a month, better than only 5% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 7% of neighborhoods
- Crime safetyBetter than only 13% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than only 23% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Golden Gate, Emeryville
A household needs to earn about $270,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Golden Gate, Emeryville home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $123,663, 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 Golden Gate, Emeryville's effective rate of 0.76%, 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 Golden Gate, Emeryville
Golden Gate, Emeryville runs younger than the country, 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 Golden Gate, Emeryville.
Who works in Golden Gate, Emeryville, and how
Work in Golden Gate, Emeryville centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 42%
- Work from home 37%
- Transit, walk, or bike 20%
Life in Golden Gate, Emeryville
Golden Gate, Emeryville has more restaurants and bars per resident than 83% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 14 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Golden Gate, Emeryville and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Golden Gate, Emeryville, month by month
Golden Gate, Emeryville 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 Golden Gate, Emeryville
San Francisco Bay Oakland International sits about 9 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 Golden Gate, Emeryville
Schools across Golden Gate, Emeryville average a C+, better than 57% of neighborhoods.
Top high schools
- Berkeley HighA+ · 84% proficient
- Emery SecondaryD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Golden Gate, Emeryville school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Golden Gate, Emeryville 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 Golden Gate, Emeryville against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Golden Gate, Emeryville
Is Golden Gate, Emeryville a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Golden Gate, Emeryville ranks 1,392nd of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on biking, walkability, and the weather, and lowest on childcare costs and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Golden Gate, Emeryville expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,039,492. The overall cost of living runs about 33% above the national average. Set against a $123,663 median income, cost of living beats 71% of neighborhoods.
Is Golden Gate, Emeryville safe?
Golden Gate, Emeryville is safer than 13% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $831 per resident a year.
Compare Golden Gate, Emeryville with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Golden Gate, Emeryville. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Golden Gate, Emeryville 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.
Golden Gate, Emeryville detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Golden Gate, Emeryville: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Golden Gate, Emeryville: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Golden Gate, Emeryville: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Golden Gate, Emeryville: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Golden Gate, Emeryville 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.