Everything else equal, we can all agree that living in a cheaper place is better than living in a more expensive place.
I’d much rather pay $500/mo in rent than $1,000. And I’d rather pay $2 for coffee than $5.
And while every neighbhorhood in Oakland might be more expensive than living in rural California, there are certain neighborhoods that are definitely cheaper.
What exactly are those Oakland neighborhoods where your dollar goes a little further — you can get that one bedroom instead of the studio?
Instead of relying on public opinion and speculation, we wanted to get the facts straight and determine which neighborhoods in Oakland are the cheapest using Saturday Night Science.
What’s the cheapest neighborhood to live in Oakland for 2024? According to the most recent census data, Acorn-Acorn Industrial looks to be the cheapest Oakland neighborhood to live in.
At this point, we should make it clear that you do get what you pay for — some of these neighborhoods might not be the best places to live in Oakland. You could be sacrificing location or crime rates for more space and cheaper groceries.
Read on to see how we determined the places around Oakland that deserve a little bragging rights, or maybe you’re interested in the worst neighborhoods in Oakland.
For more California reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In California
- Cheapest Places To Live In California
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Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
The 10 Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In Oakland For 2024
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Population: 2,274
Cost Of Living Index: 133 (42nd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 5.4 (10th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.013 (13th cheapest)
More on Acorn-Acorn Industrial: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 5,075
Cost Of Living Index: 121 (12th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 5.8 (19th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.017 (34th cheapest)
More on Fremont: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 1,482
Cost Of Living Index: 146 (78th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 4.8 (5th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.008 (4th cheapest)
More on Golf Links: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 930
Cost Of Living Index: 116 (4th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 6.4 (34th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.021 (59th cheapest)
More on South Stonehurst: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 1,348
Cost Of Living Index: 125 (18th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 2.4 (cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.024 (80th cheapest)
More on Produce And Waterfront: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 5,165
Cost Of Living Index: 133 (42nd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 6.1 (28th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.018 (37th cheapest)
More on Grand Lake: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 1,623
Cost Of Living Index: 116 (4th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 6.8 (43rd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.021 (6cheapest)
More on South Kennedy Tract: Data | Real Estate
Population: 1,203
Cost Of Living Index: 126 (22nd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 7.8 (66th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.015 (20th cheapest)
More on Mills College: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 2,724
Cost Of Living Index: 143 (67th cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 5.7 (17th cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.016 (25th cheapest)
More on Eastmont Hills: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 3,120
Cost Of Living Index: 130 (33rd cheapest)
Home Value To Income Ratio: 6.0 (23rd cheapest)
Rent To Income Ratio: 0.02 (53rd cheapest)
More on Las Palmas: Data | Real Estate
Methodology: How We Determined The Cheapest Oakland Hoods In 2024
To rank the cheapest places to live in Oakland, we had to determine what criteria define “cheap” and then apply Saturday Night Science.
Using Census and extrapolated BLS data, we arrived at the following set of criteria:
- Overall Cost Of Living
- Rent To Income Ratio
- Median Home Value To Income Ratio
We then ranked each neighborhood with scores from 1 to 129 in each category, where 1 was the cheapest.
Next, we averaged the rankings for each neighborhood to create a cheap neighborhood index.
And finally, we crowned the neighborhood with the lowest cheapest neighborhood index, the “Cheapest City Neighborhood In Oakland.” We’re lookin’ at you, Acorn-Acorn Industrial.
We updated this article for 2024. This is our fourth time ranking the cheapest neighborhoods to live in Oakland. Skip to the end to see the list of all the neighborhoods in the city, from cheapest to most expensive.
Summary: Lowest Cost Places To Live In Oakland
If you’re measuring the neighborhoods in Oakland where prices are low, and it’s cheap to live, this is an accurate list.
The most affordable neighborhoods in Oakland are Acorn-Acorn Industrial, Fremont, Golf Links, South Stonehurst, Produce And Waterfront, Grand Lake, South Kennedy Tract, Mills College, Eastmont Hills, and Las Palmas.
As mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in Oakland aren’t all cheap. Chinatown takes the title of the most expensive neighborhood to live in Oakland.
The most expensive neighborhoods in Oakland are Chinatown, Temescal, Elmhurst Park, Civic Center, and McClymonds.
We ranked the neighborhoods from cheapest to most expensive in the chart below.
For more California reading, check out:
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