The 10 Cheapest Oakland, CA Neighborhoods To Live In For 2024


The cheapest Oakland neighborhoods are Acorn-Acorn Industrial and Fremont for 2024 based on Saturday Night Science.

Worst Neighborhoods In Oakland
Source: Wikipedia User Basil D Soufi | CC BY-SA 3.0

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.

The Cheapest Neighborhoods In Oakland For 2024

  1. Acorn-Acorn Industrial
  2. Fremont
  3. Golf Links
  4. South Stonehurst
  5. Produce And Waterfront
  6. Grand Lake
  7. South Kennedy Tract
  8. Mills College
  9. Eastmont Hills
  10. Las Palmas

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:


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table


The 10 Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In Oakland For 2024

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

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

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

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

Overall SnackAbility

9.5
/10

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

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

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

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

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

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

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

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

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

Overall SnackAbility

/10

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

Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

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

Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

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:

Detailed List Of The Cheapest Neighborhoods To Live In Oakland For 2024

Rank Neighborhood Cost Of Living Index
1 Acorn-Acorn Industrial 133
2 Fremont 121
3 Golf Links 146
4 South Stonehurst 116
5 Produce And Waterfront 125
6 Grand Lake 133
7 South Kennedy Tract 116
8 Mills College 126
9 Eastmont Hills 143
10 Las Palmas 130
11 South Prescott 161
12 Old City-Produce And Waterfront 148
13 Sequoyah 153
14 Caballo Hills 168
15 Skyline-Hillcrest Estates 172
16 Bancroft Business-Havenscourt 127
17 Forestland 193
18 Oakland Airport 102
19 Trestle Glen 204
20 Brookfield Village 125
21 Lakeshore 179
22 Montclair Business 201
23 Fairfax Business-Wentworth-Holland 131
24 Hiller Highlands 221
25 Prescott 136
26 Chabot Park 160
27 Shepherd Canyon 192
28 Durant Manor 132
29 Montclair 193
30 Bella Vista 144
31 Oakmore 195
32 Saint Elizabeth 126
33 Piedmont Pines 192
34 Merriwood 201
35 Crestmont 193
36 Foothill Square 133
37 Waverly 134
38 Adams Point 146
39 Arroyo Viejo 129
40 Fairfax 151
41 Arrowhead Marsh 135
42 Claremont 253
43 Sheffield Village 184
44 Jefferson 129
45 Woodminster 204
46 Hegenberger 118
47 Upper Dimond 164
48 Lake Merritt 159
49 Toler Heights 143
50 Upper Rockridge 241
51 Glen Highlands 202
52 North Stonehurst 121
53 Rockridge 218
54 Glenview 177
55 Joaquin Miller Park 221
56 Sausal Creek 143
57 Oakland Ave-Harrison St 134
58 Eastmont 120
59 Longfellow 137
60 Redwood Heights 172
61 Maxwell Park 155
62 Hoover-Foster 124
63 Mountain View Cemetery 218
64 Peralta-Hacienda 138
65 Clawson 149
66 Piedmont 279
67 Seminary 121
68 Coliseum Industrial 117
69 Panoramic Hill 240
70 Iveywood 127
71 Sobrante Park 127
72 Northgate 129
73 Millsmont 136
74 Upper Laurel 163
75 Woodland 125
76 Columbia Gardens 129
77 Cleveland Heights 163
78 Melrose 131
79 Piedmont Avenue 160
80 Merritt 135
81 East Peralta 131
82 Dimond 142
83 Webster 124
84 Fitchburg 119
85 Ivy Hill 145
86 School 145
87 Frick 138
88 Lockwood Tevis 123
89 Gaskill 156
90 Golden Gate 160
91 Cox 128
92 Bushrod 170
93 Upper Peralta Creek-Bartlett 143
94 Castlemont 126
95 Reservoir Hill-Meadow Brook 136
96 Bartlett 138
97 Tuxedo 138
98 Lincoln Highlands 158
99 Fairview Park 197
100 Clinton 139
101 Harrington 131
102 Santa Fe 171
103 Pill Hill 146
104 Coliseum 120
105 San Pablo Gateway 145
106 Paradise Park 157
107 Allendale 146
108 Highland Terrace 134
109 Hawthorne 125
110 Lakewide 118
111 Laurel 143
112 Fruitvale Station 114
113 Mosswood 163
114 Rancho San Antonio 136
115 Oak Tree 133
116 Downtown 137
117 Lynn-Highland Park 150
118 Patten 141
119 Highland 131
120 Ralph Bunche 150
121 Peralta-Laney 135
122 Oak Center 144
123 North Kennedy Tract 129
124 Shafter 189
125 Mcclymonds 144
126 Civic Center 134
127 Elmhurst Park 138
128 Temescal 168
129 Chinatown 145
About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.