Alameda County · California
Oakland, CA jobs and wages
Who works here, what they earn, and which industries carry the local economy — Census ACS estimates for the city itself, not the wider metro.
Quick answer
Workers in Oakland, CA earn a median of $57,104 a year, 28% above the national median of $44,587. Unemployment is 6% against 5.2% nationally, and education, health care & social assistance is the largest employer at 22.7% of jobs.
- Median earnings
- $57,104#6 of 94 metros
- Unemployment rate
- 6%US 5.2%
- Labor force participation
- 68.3%US 63.5%
- People employed
- 232,417Civilian employed, age 16+
What Oakland does for a living
Share of the civilian employed population by industry, largest first.
- Education, health care & social assistance22.7%
- Professional, scientific & management19.4%
- Arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation & food8.8%
- Retail trade8.5%
- Construction6.6%
- Manufacturing6.4%
- Transportation, warehousing & utilities6.2%
- Other services, except public administration5.8%
- Finance, insurance & real estate5.4%
- Public administration4.2%
- Information3.9%
- Wholesale trade1.7%
- Agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting & mining0.4%
Related data for Oakland
Earnings only mean something next to what things cost.
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates
Tables B23025, B20002 and C24030, 2019-2023 ACS 5-year. Industry shares combine the male and female columns of C24030 and are rounded, so they may not total exactly 100%.