Berkeley, CA population, income and ZIP codes

Berkeley city is a mid-size city in California, with 120,223 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #52 of 1,618 ranked by population — larger than 96% of them. The median age here is 32.9 years against 39.1 nationally, a distinctly younger profile, typical of places with students, military posts or a fast-growing family population. At this size the Census also publishes one-year estimates; the five-year values used here are steadier and let you compare against smaller neighbours on the same basis.

Households in Berkeley city earn a median of $108,558 a year, 38.2% above the national figure of $78,538 and 19% above the $91,111 median for the 1,050 California cities we cover. The median is the midpoint household, not an average, so a handful of very high earners cannot drag it upward the way they distort a mean. Poverty reaches 16.8% of residents here, above the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in Berkeley city is valued at $1,351,100, 345.3% above the national figure and 129% above the $589,600 peer median, while median gross rent runs $2,127 a month, 51.3% above the national figure, or roughly $25,524 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 23.5% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is within the standard affordability guideline. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 12.4×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is out of reach on local earnings alone and the ownership market leans on outside income, equity or dual high earners. 43.3% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, a renter-majority market, so rent figures matter more here than the home-value line. The rent line includes utilities paid by the tenant, a definition worth remembering when comparing it against a landlord's quoted rate.

Home values sit at 12.4× median household income, far past the 3.9× national mark, so ownership costs here are set by something other than local wages — second homes, retirees with equity, or commuters earning elsewhere. Median income runs above the national figure while poverty also runs above it — a split distribution, not a uniformly comfortable place. Averages hide that; the two numbers together do not.

Every value on this page is published directly by the Census for this area — nothing is modelled or interpolated. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.