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Data on this report is based on areas within the legal city boundary, outlined in black on the map. Any additional neighborhoods shown on the map are associated with the city by name and are included for reference only.

Alameda, CA
Real Estate & Demographic Data






Alameda profile


Living in Alameda



Alameda is a larger medium-sized coastal city (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of California. With a population of 76,040 people and 16 associated neighborhoods, Alameda is the 117th largest community in California.

Alameda home prices are not only among the most expensive in California, but Alameda real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.

Also of interest is that Alameda has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

Of important note, Alameda is also a city of artists. Alameda has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Alameda’s character.

A relatively large number of people in Alameda telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 23.06% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

One thing noticeable about Alameda, although not a huge city, is that it has a large population of people who are young, single, educated, and upwardly-mobile career starters. That’s because Alameda is full of single people in their 20s and 30s and who have undergraduate or graduate degrees and are starting careers in professional occupations. This makes Alameda a pretty good place for young, educated career starters looking to find many people like themselves, with good opportunities for friendships, socializing, romance, and fun.

Alameda is also nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Quite often, nautical areas such as these attract visitors and locals who come to enjoy the scenery and various waterfront activities.

In Alameda, however, the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 33.10 minutes each day getting to work, which is significantly higher than the national average. One bright side is that local public transit is widely used, so it may be an option to avoid the headache of driving in the heavy traffic by leaving the car at home and taking transit. In addition, the city is also quite pedestrian-friendly, because many neighborhoods are very dense and have amenities close enough together that people find it feasible to get around on foot.

For the size of the city, public transportation in Alameda is quite heavily used. Mostly, people who use it for their daily commute are taking a ferryboat. For Alameda, the benefits are reduced air pollution and congestion on the highways.

Do you have a 4-year college degree or graduate degree? If so, you may feel right at home in Alameda. 59.83% of adults here have a 4-year degree or graduate degree, whereas the national average for all cities and towns is just 21.84%.

The per capita income in Alameda in 2018 was $68,122, which is wealthy relative to California and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $272,488 for a family of four. However, Alameda contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Alameda is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Alameda home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Alameda residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Alameda also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 12.09% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Alameda include German, Irish, English, Italian, and European.

In addition, Alameda has a lot of people living here who were born outside of the US (24.68%).

The most common language spoken in Alameda is English. Other important languages spoken here include Chinese and Spanish.