Best PlacesMontclair, Oakland, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Montclair, 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.
Montclair, Oakland ranks 658th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Montclair, 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.
Montclair, Oakland's strengths and weaknesses
Where Montclair, Oakland ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- Household income$250,001 median, better than 98% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 97% of neighborhoods
- Healthcare accessBetter than 96% of neighborhoods
Where Montclair, Oakland ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$2,082 a month, better than only 5% of neighborhoods
- Short commute32.2 minutes each way, better than only 12% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 15% of neighborhoods
- Crime safetyBetter than only 19% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Montclair, Oakland
A household needs to earn about $444,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Montclair, Oakland home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $250,001, 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 Montclair, Oakland's effective rate of 0.87%, 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 Montclair, Oakland
Montclair, Oakland runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Montclair, Oakland.
Who works in Montclair, Oakland, and how
Work in Montclair, Oakland 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 46%
- Work from home 46%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Montclair, Oakland
The coast is about 19 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Montclair, Oakland, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Montclair, Oakland, month by month
Montclair, Oakland sees roughly 200 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 Montclair, Oakland
San Francisco Bay Oakland International sits about 8 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 Montclair, Oakland
Schools across Montclair, Oakland average a B+, better than 78% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Havens ElementaryA+ · 79% proficient
Top middle schools
- Piedmont MiddleA+ · 78% proficient
Top high schools
- Piedmont HighA · 78% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Montclair, Oakland school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Montclair, 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 Montclair, Oakland against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Montclair, Oakland
Is Montclair, Oakland a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Montclair, Oakland ranks 658th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on what local pay buys, an educated workforce, and high incomes, and lowest on cell coverage and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Montclair, Oakland expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,683,258. The overall cost of living runs about 37% above the national average. Set against a $250,001 median income, cost of living beats 99% of neighborhoods.
Is Montclair, Oakland safe?
Montclair, Oakland is safer than 19% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $766 per resident a year.
Compare Montclair, Oakland with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Montclair, Oakland. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Montclair, 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.
Montclair, Oakland detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Montclair, Oakland: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Montclair, Oakland: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Montclair, Oakland: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Montclair, Oakland: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Montclair, 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.