ZIP code 94601

ZIP 94601 is a small city in Alameda County, California, with 52,289 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #200 of 1,803 ranked by population — larger than 88% of them. The median age here is 35.5 years against 39.1 nationally, a slightly younger profile than the country as a whole. Places under 65,000 residents only appear in the five-year release, never the one-year file, so these values pool sixty months of responses and lag the current year by design.

Households in ZIP 94601 earn a median of $66,651 a year, 15.1% below the national figure of $78,538. Household income here is measured before tax and pooled across everyone at the address, which is why it reads higher than typical individual earnings in the same area. Poverty reaches 17.5% of residents here, above the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in ZIP 94601 is valued at $703,100, 131.7% above the national figure, while median gross rent runs $1,651 a month, 17.4% above the national figure, or roughly $19,812 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 29.7% 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 10.5×, 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. 34.5% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, a renter-majority market, so rent figures matter more here than the home-value line. Rent is reported gross — contract rent plus tenant-paid utilities — which is why it runs above the advertised price on a listing for the same unit.

Home values sit at 10.5× 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.

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.

ZIP 94601 is tabulated inside Alameda County, California, one of 49 ZIP areas the Census publishes for that county and 1,803 across California. This is a dense urban ZIP, where a single postal boundary can hold more residents than an entire rural county. County assignment on this page follows the largest share of the ZIP's land area, which matters where a delivery route crosses a county line: mail addressed to 94601 can be handled by a post office in a neighbouring county even though the tabulation area is filed here.

Against its own county, 94601 reports a median household income of $66,651, 47% below the $125,780 county median, and 26% below the $89,916 typical CA ZIP. Owner-occupied homes are valued at a median of $703,100, 36% below the county figure and 12% above the statewide ZIP median. Rent is reported gross — the contract amount plus tenant-paid utilities — at $1,651 a month, which is why it reads higher than the advertised rent on a listing for the same unit.

A taxable purchase made inside 94601 carries 10.25% at the register, assembled from the Oakland jurisdiction stack: the California state rate plus every county, municipal and special district levy that reaches this address. Because those district boundaries were drawn for schools, transit and hospital funding rather than for mail delivery, two addresses inside 94601 can legitimately fall under different totals — the rate shown here is the one that applies to the dominant jurisdiction.

Everything above comes from the Census Bureau American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates for this ZIP Code Tabulation Area, with sales tax rates traced to the state revenue agency. Five-year estimates pool sixty months of responses, so they are stable enough to compare 94601 with its neighbours but always trail the current year, and any value the Census suppressed for sample size is shown as unpublished rather than filled in with a model.