Best PlacesHighland Terrace, Oakland, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Highland Terrace, Oakland, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Highland Terrace, Oakland ranks 3,763rd 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 Highland Terrace, 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.
Highland Terrace, Oakland's strengths and weaknesses
Where Highland Terrace, Oakland ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- Nice weatherabout 221 pleasant days a year, better than 89% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than 89% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than 82% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than 80% of neighborhoods
Where Highland Terrace, Oakland ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,082 a month, better than only 5% of neighborhoods
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 7% of neighborhoods
- Local economyBetter than only 10% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 12% of neighborhoods
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 18% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Highland Terrace, Oakland
A household needs to earn about $205,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Highland Terrace, Oakland home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $76,370, 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 Highland Terrace, Oakland's effective rate of 0.74%, 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 Highland Terrace, Oakland
Highland Terrace, Oakland runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Highland Terrace, Oakland.
Who works in Highland Terrace, Oakland, and how
Work in Highland Terrace, Oakland centers on health care & social and other services. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 71%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 13%
Life in Highland Terrace, Oakland
The coast is about 18 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Highland Terrace, Oakland, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Highland Terrace, Oakland, month by month
Highland Terrace, Oakland sees roughly 221 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 Highland Terrace, Oakland
San Francisco Bay Oakland International sits about 5 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 4.5 million passengers in 2025, with 64 nonstop destinations.
Highland Terrace, 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 Highland Terrace, Oakland against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Highland Terrace, Oakland
Is Highland Terrace, Oakland a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Highland Terrace, Oakland ranks 3,763rd of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on fast internet, the weather, and big-city access, and lowest on childcare costs and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Highland Terrace, Oakland expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $790,141. The overall cost of living runs about 24% above the national average. Set against a $76,370 median income, cost of living beats 24% of neighborhoods.
Is Highland Terrace, Oakland safe?
Highland Terrace, Oakland is safer than 24% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $693 per resident a year.
Compare Highland Terrace, Oakland with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Highland Terrace, Oakland. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Highland Terrace, 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.
Highland Terrace, Oakland detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Highland Terrace, Oakland: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Highland Terrace, Oakland: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Highland Terrace, Oakland: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Highland Terrace, Oakland: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Highland Terrace, 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.