How Much Does It Cost to Live In Oakland, CA?
Oakland is a city in the East Bay of the Bay Area of San Francisco and it stands out as an important industrial city in California.
It’s also one of the most important American centers of African-American culture.
Oakland is historically extremely significant and known as the place in which the consequences of three hundred years of African slavery have played out.
Oakland is an expensive place to live with its cost of living – with Bart (train service to get into the city) – ending up being the same as the one in San Francisco.
United States : Cost of Living by City
- Albany, NY
- Albuquerque, NM
- Anchorage, AK
- Ann Arbor, MI
- Arlington, TX
- Asheville, NC
- Atlanta, GA
- Austin, TX
- Bakersfield, CA
- Baltimore, MD
- Bellevue, WA
- Bellingham, WA
- Berkeley, CA
- Birmingham, AL
- Boise, ID
- Boston, MA
- Boulder, CO
- Brooklyn, NY
- Buffalo, NY
- Burlington, VT
- Charleston, SC
- Charlotte, NC
- Chattanooga, TN
- Chicago, IL
- Cincinnati, OH
- Cleveland, OH
- Columbia, SC
- Columbus, OH
- Dallas, TX
- Dayton, OH
- Denver, CO
- Des Moines, IA
- Detroit, MI
- El Paso, TX
- Eugene, OR
- Everett, WA
- Fayetteville, AR
- Fort Myers, FL
- Fort Wayne, IN
- Fort Worth, TX
- Fresno, CA
- Gainesville, FL
- Grand Rapids, MI
- Greensboro, NC
- Hartford, CT
- Honolulu, HI
- Houston, TX
- Huntsville, AL
- Indianapolis, IN
- Irvine, CA
- Jacksonville, FL
- Jersey City, NJ
- Kansas City, MO
- Knoxville, TN
- Las Vegas, NV
- Lexington, KY
- Little Rock, AR
- Long Beach, CA
- Los Angeles, CA
- Louisville, KY
- Lubbock, TX
- Madison, WI
- Memphis, TN
- Miami, FL
- Milwaukee, WI
- Minneapolis, MN
- Nashville, TN
- New Orleans, LA
- New York, NY
- Oakland, CA
- Oklahoma City, OK
- Olympia, WA
- Orlando, FL
- Peoria, IL
- Philadelphia, PA
- Phoenix, AZ
- Pittsburgh, PA
- Portland, ME
- Portland, OR
- Raleigh, NC
- Reno, NV
- Richmond, VA
- Rochester, NY
- Sacramento, CA
- Saint Louis, MO
- Saint Paul, MN
- Saint Petersburg, FL
- Salem, OR
- Salt Lake City, UT
- San Antonio, TX
- San Diego, CA
- San Francisco, CA
- San Jose, CA
- Santa Barbara, CA
- Santa Rosa, CA
- Seattle, WA
- Spokane, WA
- Springfield, MO
- Syracuse, NY
- Tacoma, WA
- Tallahassee, FL
- Tampa, FL
- Toledo, OH
- Tucson, AZ
- Tulsa, OK
- Vancouver, WA
- Virginia Beach, VA
- Washington, DC
- West Palm Beach, FL
- Wichita, KS
RESTAURANTS
Cocktails and nice restaurants are about 50-75% of those in San Francisco, with often better drinks and food.
You can find all kinds of good cuisines and food places here.
Usually, people that are not well off do not eat in fancy restaurants, since a meal in an inexpensive restaurant here will cost you around 25$.
MARKETS
Oakland has health food stores in the Lakeshore and West Oakland neighborhood and here are just some of the regular stores and supermarkets you’ll run into around the town: Farmer Joe’s, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods (which is a bit more expensive), Mandela Foods Co-op and many others.
The prices are on par with the rest of the country.
TRANSPORTATION
Oakland has multiple forms of transportation for everyone – public transit, bikes, and scooters: whatever you think of! If using public transport, your best bet is a clipper card.
This card allows you to reload, tap and go on buses, trains, and ferries.
Uber, Lyft, and taxi services are affordable and reliable.
UTILITIES (MONTHLY)
Utilities vary but you can calculate a rough $320 per month which includes paying for trash, water, and sewer.
There are other costs such as apartment insurance and others.
Still, don’t forget that the price of utilities does depend on the amount of electricity you use and on the size of your apartment.
SPORTS & LEISURE
Oakland is a very bicycle-friendly city with the most remarkable parks where you can work on staying fit and saving some money because working out in a gym will cost you a lot in this city.
A gym or a fitness club membership will cost you around 70$.
Entertainment means are various, with all kinds of cinemas, theaters, and other forms of leisure.
A cinema ticket will cost you a whopping 15$ per seat.
CLOTHING & SHOES
You’ll find plenty of shopping malls in Oakland and a lot of stores in downtown Oakland.
If you’re set on shopping in Oakland, you should get familiar with the prices right away, since they’re a bit higher.
Quality jeans will cost you around 65$, and you won’t find any good running sneakers without cashing out close to 110$.
RENT PER MONTH
The housing market is affordable and varied in Oakland.
People moving from San Francisco, Berkeley and other areas have contributed to an increase in demand and a shortage in real estate supply.
The cost of rent is less than that of San Francisco but very, very hard to find and still expensive – rent for a one-bedroom apartment is over 1900$ per month and for a two-bedroom around 3450$.
Cost of Living Averages Table for Oakland, CA
*Note: All prices are indicated in USD.| Average Restaurant Prices | |
|---|---|
| Meal (Inexpensive Restaurant) | $25 |
| Domestic Beer (0.5 Liter) | $7.25 |
| Water (0.33 Liter) | $1.81 | Average Market Prices |
| Milk (1 Liter) | $1.24 |
| Loaf Bread (500g) | $5.33 |
| Eggs (12) | $5.45 | Average Transport Prices |
| One Way Ticket | $3.00 |
| Monthly Pass | $107.50 |
| Gasoline | $1.33 | Average Utilities Prices |
| Basic (Water, Electricity, Garbage, Heating, Cooling) | $320.27 |
| 1 min. of Prepaid Mobile Tariff Local | $0.10 |
| Internet (Unlimited Data, Cable/ADSL) | $55.31 | Average Leisure Prices |
| Fitness Club, Monthly Fee for 1 Adult | $70.00 |
| Tennis Court Rent (1 Hour) | $47.50 |
| Cinema, 1 Seat, International Release | $15.00 | Average Clothing Prices |
| 1 Pair of Jeans (Levis 501 Or Comparable) | $64.88 |
| 1 Summer Dress in a Chain Store (Zara, etc...) | $41.40 |
| 1 Pair of Adidas Walking Shoes (Mid-Range) | $107.50 | Average Rent Prices |
| Apartment (1 bedroom) in City Center | $2355.00 |
| Apartment (1 bedroom) Outside of Center | $1937.5 |
| Apartment (3 bedrooms) in City Center | $4975.00 |
How Does the Average Person Spend Their Money in Oakland, CA?
Not surprisingly at all, for a popular city in California where rent is through the roof, the biggest expense of living in Oakland is rent.
Rent takes up over 45% of all income, which is a shockingly high percentage and just goes to show how expensive rent is in this city.
Food is definitely the next biggest expense for anyone living in Oakland – though this is the situation in most countries around the world.
Utilities and sports are almost the same, percentage-wise, but – shockingly, sports and leisure take up a bit more money than the bills.
Average Costs Breakdown
Oakland, CA: Average Salary, Minimum Wage & Mortgages
Recent studies suggest that you need to make at least $85,000 per year in order to live comfortably in the Bay Area.
The prices of rent are definitely too high in comparison to the salaries that people earn here, taking up surely around 50% of one’s entire income.
With huge rent prices, it’s difficult to save money, and even more difficult to purchase a home without having an income of over $100k.
The average monthly salary in Oakland is around 5900$, while the minimum wage is just a bit over 2000$.
Oakland Safety Overview
READ THE FULL REPORT: Oakland Safety Review
Safety Index:
- OVERALL RISK: MEDIUM
- TRANSPORT & TAXIS RISK: MEDIUM
- PICKPOCKETS RISK: LOW
- NATURAL DISASTERS RISK: LOW
- MUGGING RISK: HIGH
- TERRORISM RISK: MEDIUM
- SCAMS RISK: MEDIUM
- WOMEN TRAVELERS RISK: LOW
