Oakland is a large coastal city (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of California. With a population of 430,553 people and 116 associated neighborhoods, Oakland is the eighth largest community in California. Much of the housing stock in Oakland was built prior to World War II, making it one of the older and more historic cities in the country.

Housing costs in Oakland are among some of the highest in the nation, although real estate prices here don't compare to real estate prices in the most expensive communities in California.

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

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

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 20.30% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. 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.

Oakland is a popular destination for single career-starters. One thing that you will notice when you are out and about town is that there is a large population of people who are young, single, educated, and upwardly-mobile career starters out at restaurants, listening to live music, and enjoying other activities. They are a real visible part of the culture of Oakland. This makes Oakland a good place to live for young professionals. With so many people in this demographic, Oakland presents many opportunities for single professionals to enjoy themselves, socialize, and to create lasting relationships.

One of the nice things about Oakland is that it is nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Because of this, visitors and locals will often go to these areas to take in the scenery or to enjoy waterfront activities.

In Oakland, however, the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 32.07 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.

Oakland is a big city, and with that comes lots of benefits. One benefit is that most big cities have public transit, but Oakland really shines when it comes to the extensiveness and use of its public transit system. More than most large American cities, Oakland citizens use public transit daily to get to and from work. And while there are transportation options, most people in Oakland ride the subway. Whereas in some cities one is destined to sit in traffic every morning to get to work and every evening to get home, in Oakland a lot leave their cars at home (if they even choose to own one), and hop a ride on the subway.

The education level of Oakland ranks among the highest in the nation. Of the 25-and-older adult population in Oakland, 48.41% have at least a bachelor's degree. The typical US community has just 21.84% of its adults holding a bachelor's degree or graduate degree.

The per capita income in Oakland in 2022 was $56,628, which is upper middle income relative to California, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $226,512 for a family of four. However, Oakland contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Oakland is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Oakland home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Oakland residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Oakland also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 26.62% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Oakland include German, Irish, English, Italian, and European.

In addition, Oakland has a lot of people living here who were born outside of the US (26.29%).

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