Emeryville, California

Area Profile

13,081 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Emeryville, in Alameda County.

54out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 26% of 2,944 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity2096th of 3,904 cities measured54
Growth2610th of 2,973 cities measured25
Housing affordability3818th of 4,223 cities measured49
ClimateTop 8% of 4,223 cities measured89
Physical resilience2953rd of 4,182 cities measured37
AccessTop 8% of 4,226 cities measured99
Economic stabilityTop 44% of 4,226 cities measured63
The quick read

Residential permitting has slowed: 2 units authorized over the past twelve months, 71% below the prior year.

Housing costs more relative to local incomes than in most published city profiles: rent takes 30% of median household income and the median home is 5.2 times it.

Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by earthquake, inland flooding and wildfire.

At a glance

Population
13,081
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$117,092
Top 11% nationally
Density
10,276/sq mi
1.3 sq mi of land
Median age
34.5
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Alameda County
California
Metro area
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA
Nearest major airport
OAK
9 mi · Oakland San Francisco Bay
Median home value
$604,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.4% is lower than 48% of the 3,904 measured US cities.

Employment fell 1.7% over the past year, to 812,910 employed residents.

71% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 96% of measured US cities.

Household income is higher than at least 89% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$13,126$117,092Top 11%of 29,5732024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$7,863$91,778Top 3%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate13.8%Top 40%of 31,9002024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute32.1 minTop 25%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher70.5%Top 4%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Employment812,910Top 5%of 3,904June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-2.1%Bottom 19%of 3,903June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-1.7%Bottom 26%of 3,904June 2026
Labor force850,240Top 5%of 3,904June 2026
Labor force participation76.0%Top 7%of 31,9332024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$100,220Top 2%of 3,6582025 OEWS
Median annual wage$74,260Top 2%of 3,6582025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.4%Bottom 26%of 3,904June 2026
Unemployment rate4.4%Top 48%of 3,904June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
2021202220232024120k110k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $117,092 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.
Largest occupations — San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides119,120$35,950
Software Developers69,030$186,640
Fast Food and Counter Workers49,970$43,870
General and Operations Managers43,520$149,990
Registered Nurses41,750$186,610
Retail Salespersons39,460$43,850

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Alameda County, CA, which contains this city.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Prices for everything a household buys run about 18% above the national average, on the Bureau of Economic Analysis index. Housing drives most of that difference.

Median rent of $2,936 takes 30% of median household income, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 5.2 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Cost of living
117.6

Prices here run about 18% above the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Rent as a share of income
30.1%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
5.2×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$2,936
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$604,800
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living index117.6Top 2%of 3,6582023
Home price to income5.17Top 14%of 28,4732024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate24.2%Bottom 2%of 31,8432024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±5408,497Top 7%of 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$137$2,936Top 2%of 23,4322024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$30,972$604,800Top 8%of 29,3422024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income30.1%Top 7%of 23,2012024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate7.8%Bottom 41%of 32,0012024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
25/ 100
Ranks 2610 of 2,973 published city profiles
Permitting is increasing, measured from 2020 to 2025.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 8% since 2020, reaching 13,912 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 0.2 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
2
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.2
Bottom 11% nationally
Year over year
−71%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202414k13k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population.
Housing units permitted per year
2020202120222023202420255042.0
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−99%).

Weather & climate

9 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 66°F and January a low of 47°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 22.9 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 49, in the Good band, and one day a year passes 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

40°60°80°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station SAN FRANCISCO DWTN, 8.3 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index63.02024 calendar year
Annual precipitation22.9"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low47°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high66°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months91991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 10012024 calendar year
Median air quality index49.02024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing11°F1991-2020 Normals
Air quality
Median air quality index
49
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
63
90th percentile index
Days above 100
1
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today. Air quality is measured rather than modelled, by EPA monitors, and published by county only where a monitor sits — roughly half the counties AreaProfile publishes have one, and the rest show nothing rather than an estimate. Air masses are regional, so a county reading describes the air over a place reasonably well, but it is still the county reading.

Physical risk

37 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are earthquake, inland flooding and wildfire.

EarthquakeHigh
Inland floodingElevated
WildfireModerate
DroughtModerate

Low or minimal exposure: landslide, heat wave, coastal flooding, volcanic activity, tornado, tsunami, lightning, hail, strong wind, avalanche, winter weather.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Violent crime
769
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
9,522
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offences, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Emeryville's police department reported 769 violent offences per 100,000 residents, higher than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 9,522.

Alameda County records 3.9 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 6.5 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 16.9 per 100,000 residents in Alameda County.

Homicide
3.9
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
6.5
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
16.9
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
8.8
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Offences are reported to the FBI by Emeryville’s own police department, for the population it serves, and are shown only where it reported every month of the year — a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime counts what was reported to and recorded by police, which is not the same as what happened, and a place that draws a large daytime workforce carries incidents its residents did not generate. Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Alameda County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around Emeryville rather than Emeryville itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Taxes
Taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Cost of living now is — the index above is the Bureau of Economic Analysis price parity for this area — but it is a price level for all consumption rather than a budget for a household, its spread is driven mostly by housing, and it excludes taxes. Housing affordability is computed separately from rent, price and income, because that answers a narrower and more actionable question. Nothing here is individualised tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house. School attendance zones, insurance pricing and the character of a neighbourhood all vary within the places measured here.

Access

6 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 9 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Oakland San Francisco BayOAK9 mi10,520 ft
San Francisco IntlSFO16 mi11,870 ft
Norman Y Mineta San Jose IntlSJC39 mi11,000 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
54
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Other cities in San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
San FranciscoSan Francisco County830,23559vs Emeryville
OaklandAlameda County439,41855vs Emeryville
FremontAlameda County228,29560vs Emeryville
HaywardAlameda County158,80151vs Emeryville
ConcordContra Costa County124,03550vs Emeryville
BerkeleyAlameda County120,25753vs Emeryville
AntiochContra Costa County116,47749vs Emeryville
RichmondContra Costa County115,50549vs Emeryville
San MateoSan Mateo County103,10557vs Emeryville
Daly CitySan Mateo County101,96459vs Emeryville
San LeandroAlameda County87,82650vs Emeryville
San RamonContra Costa County85,99356vs Emeryville

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
safetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar yearAnnually, with monthly revisions
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023Annually, each December
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar yearAnnually, once a calendar year is complete

Profile recalculated August 30, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.