Piedmont, California

Area Profile

10,945 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Piedmont, in Alameda County.

56out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 33% of 2,944 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 48% of 3,904 published cities57
Growth2623rd of 2,973 published cities25
Housing affordability3326th of 4,223 published cities61
ClimateTop 9% of 4,223 published cities85
Physical resilience2973rd of 4,182 published cities36
AccessTop 8% of 4,226 published cities99
Economic stabilityTop 30% of 4,226 published cities70
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.4% and median household income $250,001, putting employment conditions in the middle range of published city profiles.

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

A major airport is 7 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
10,945
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$250,000+
Top 1% nationally
Density
6,438/sq mi
1.7 sq mi of land
Median age
43.6
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Alameda County
California
Metro area
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA
Nearest major airport
OAK
7 mi · Oakland San Francisco Bay
Median home value
$2,000,001
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.

88% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 99% of measured US cities.

Household income is higher than at least 99% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income$250,000+Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$13,261$146,869Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate4.3%Bottom 21%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute34.1 minTop 19%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher88.4%Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment812,910Top 5%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-2.1%Bottom 19%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-1.7%Bottom 26%June 2026
Labor force850,240Top 5%June 2026
Labor force participation62.7%Top 42%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$100,220Top 2%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$74,260Top 2%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.4%Bottom 26%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.4%Top 48%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
2021202220232024250k250k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $250,000+ 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 →

Median rent of $3,501 takes 17% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 8.0 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Rent as a share of income
16.8%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
8.0×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$3,501
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$2,000,001
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income8.00Top 4%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate90.9%Top 20%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1804,073Top 14%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent$3,501Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value$2,000,001Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income16.8%Bottom 37%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate5.1%Bottom 29%2024 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 2623 of 2,973 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing, 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 fallen 4% since 2020, reaching 10,816 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward 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 0.4 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
4
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.4
Bottom 18% nationally
Year over year
0%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202411k11k
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
2020202120222023202420259.01.0
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−43%).

Weather & climate

8 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 72°F and January a low of 42°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 18.7 inches.

30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station OAKLAND METRO INTL AP, 7.0 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND3.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation18.7"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low42°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high72°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months81991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing15°F1991-2020 Normals

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.

Physical risk

36 / 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.

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.

Crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. Reported crime is also easy to misread: agency participation varies year to year, and a city that draws a large daytime workforce carries incidents its residents did not generate.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

6 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 7 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Oakland San Francisco BayOAK7 mi10,520 ft
San Francisco IntlSFO16 mi11,870 ft
Norman Y Mineta San Jose IntlSJC36 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
56
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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 Piedmont
OaklandAlameda County439,41855vs Piedmont
FremontAlameda County228,29560vs Piedmont
HaywardAlameda County158,80151vs Piedmont
ConcordContra Costa County124,03550vs Piedmont
BerkeleyAlameda County120,25753vs Piedmont
AntiochContra Costa County116,47749vs Piedmont
RichmondContra Costa County115,50549vs Piedmont
San MateoSan Mateo County103,10557vs Piedmont
Daly CitySan Mateo County101,96459vs Piedmont
San LeandroAlameda County87,82650vs Piedmont
San RamonContra Costa County85,99356vs Piedmont

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
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)
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)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
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)

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.