Best PlacesOakland, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Oakland, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Distance to the water drives a lot of the difference between one part and the next. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Oakland ranks 201st of 445 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. The coast is about 18 minutes away. Its strengths are fast internet and transit. The cost shows up in childcare costs, crime, and noise.
The best neighborhoods in 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.
The best areas in Oakland
The parts of Oakland, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the city.
Upper Rockridge, Trestle Glen & Montclair
Local pay stretches further, more adults hold degrees, and incomes run higher.
Piedmont Pines & Forestland
Tree cover is thicker, though streets are more car-dependent.
Redwood Heights, Upper Laurel & Maxwell Park
Health care is easier to reach and more residents vote.
Adams Point, Prescott & Piedmont Avenue
Fewer households have young kids and more homes sit empty.
Merritt, Old City-Produce and Waterfront & Lakewide
Transit reaches more jobs, though crime runs higher.
Lynn-Highland Park, Dimond & Fruitvale Station
Scores close to Merritt, Old City-Produce and Waterfront & Lakewide, except that it is quieter here.
Melrose
Homes cost less and commutes are shorter.
Eastmont, Seminary & Castlemont
Health outcomes score lower.
Oakland shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 8% of the country and others in the top 3%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Oakland's strengths and weaknesses
Oakland lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Fast internet is the standout, in the top 2% of cities. Transit and walkability follow.
The one real hole is childcare costs, near the bottom of the country. Crime and noise also cost it ground. Cost swings more from one part of Oakland to another than it does between Oakland and its neighbors, which the map below shows.
Where Oakland ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 98% of cities
- TransitBetter than 94% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 93% of cities
- BikingBetter than 93% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than 90% of cities
Where Oakland ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,082 a month, better than only 3% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than only 4% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 6% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 12% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 14% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Oakland
A household needs to earn about $240,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Oakland home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $109,262, 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 Oakland's effective rate of 0.89%, 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 Oakland
Oakland'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 Oakland.
Who works in Oakland, and how
Work in Oakland centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 57%
- Work from home 24%
- Transit, walk, or bike 19%
Life in Oakland
Oakland has more restaurants and bars per resident than 79% of cities and more parkland per resident than 84% of cities. The coast is about 18 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Oakland and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Oakland, month by month
Oakland sees roughly 220 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 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.
The best schools in and around Oakland
Schools across Oakland average a C, better than 36% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Havens ElementaryA+ · 79% proficient
- American Indian Public Charter School IiB+ · 55% proficient
- Lazear Charter AcademyB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Piedmont MiddleA+ · 78% proficient
- Aims College Prep MiddleB · 44% proficient
- Aurum Preparatory AcademyD− · 15% proficient
Top high schools
- California HighA+ · 90% proficient
- Miramonte HighA+ · 82% proficient
- Piedmont HighA · 78% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Oakland school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
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 Oakland against the other 444 cities.
Who Oakland suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 24% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Oakland
Is Oakland a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Oakland ranks 201st of 445 cities. It scores highest on fast internet, transit, and walkability, and lowest on childcare costs and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Oakland expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $905,075. The overall cost of living runs about 26% above the national average. Set against a $109,262 median income, cost of living beats 49% of cities.
Is Oakland safe?
Oakland is safer than 4% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $739 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Oakland?
July highs average about 74 degrees, and January highs near 61 with lows near 43. That works out to about 220 pleasant days a year, more than 89% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Oakland?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Upper Rockridge, Trestle Glen & Montclair, Piedmont Pines & Forestland, and Redwood Heights, Upper Laurel & Maxwell Park. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Oakland good for families?
Schools beat 36% of cities, crime safety beats 4%, and childcare runs $2,082 a month.
Is Oakland good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 49% of cities, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 98% of cities. About 24% of workers already work from home.
Compare Oakland with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Oakland. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 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.
Oakland detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Oakland: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Oakland: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Oakland: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Oakland: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
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.