Berkeley, California population is 121,911 as of July 1, 2025 (U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 estimate), ranking #250 nationally and #53 in California. Cost of living runs 16% above the U.S. average (BEA RPP 2024); a family of four needs roughly $197,629/yr to break even (2025 modeled). This profile draws on 13 federal datasets covering population, housing, income, employment, climate, and risk.
At a glance.
2025 population
121,911
+1,246 in the last year
Top 2% of 19,483 U.S. cities
Census Vintage 2025
Cost of living
RPP 115.6
+16% vs US
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metro · BEA 2024
Family-of-4 budget
$197,629/yr
+147% vs US
Modeled 2025 · federal sources
Median HH income
$108,092
+39% vs US
ACS 2020–2024 5-yr
Median home value
$1,413,900
+366% vs US
ACS 2020–2024 5-yr
2-BR fair-market rent
$2,912/mo
HUD FY2026 · 40th pct
Avg July high
74°F
NOAA 1991–2020
Gigabit broadband
86%
ISP-reported, FCC BDC
Explore Berkeley, CA demographics, including age, race and ethnicity, households, origins, language, and education.
How many people live in Berkeley?
121,911 people live in Berkeley as of July 1, 2025 (U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025), the #250 largest U.S. city.
How big is Berkeley?
Berkeley covers 10.4 square miles of land and 7.2 square miles of water. Its population density is about 11,686 residents per square mile of land. Compare U.S. cities by land area →
Source detail: 2025 population
2025 population
Source agency
U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division
Dataset
Census PEP
Vintage / period
Vintage 2025 (Jul 1, 2025)
Native geography
Census PEP subcounty place records for the included city universe.
Transformation
Copied from POPESTIMATE2025, joined by Census GEOID, and used for ranks, filters, and city pages.
Known limit: Annual estimate, not a decennial count; each new PEP vintage can revise the prior series.
Population shrank 1.9% from the April 2020 base to mid-2025.
Vintage 2025 · annual estimates
Recent history (V2025 series, 2020 base → 2025).
2020 base: 124,292 → 2025: 121,911 (-1.9%)
Year
Population
Reference date
2020 base
124,292
April 1, 2020
2020
124,142
July 1, 2020
2021
115,433
July 1, 2021
2022
119,217
July 1, 2022
2023
119,717
July 1, 2023
2024
120,665
July 1, 2024
2025
121,911
July 1, 2025
Earlier history (2010–2019, prior Census vintage)
These figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Vintage 2019 release — a separate, earlier methodology. They’re shown here as historical context only; the 2010 and 2019 values aren’t directly comparable to the 2020–2025 series above.
Population grew 7.5% from the July 2010 estimate to 2019 (V2019 — see seam note below).
Berkeley is the #250 largest of 19,483 U.S. cities and #53 in California.
▸Show the analyst detail (9 rows)
Measure
Value
Note
2020 base
124,292
April 1, 2020 census base
5-yr change
-2,381
2020 base → 2025; within V2025
5-yr change %
-1.9%
within V2025 only
1-yr change
+1,246
2024 → 2025 estimate
1-yr change %
+1.0%
within V2025 only
Density
11,686
people per sq mi, land only
Land area
10.4
sq mi (2025 Gazetteer)
U.S. rank by population
#250
of 19,483 cities
State rank by population
#53
of 483 in California
What is the median household income in Berkeley?
Median household income is 39% above the U.S. median ($108,092 vs $77,719); 17.3% live in poverty — 4.8 points above the 12.5% U.S. rate.
Median household income$108,092
US
Berkeley: $108,092 — 39% above the US median of $77,719.
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of cities with ACS income data
Berkeley
$108,092
United States
$77,719
Income and poverty estimates for Berkeley from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year estimates (window 2020–2024). Every figure is shown with its 90% margin of error (MOE). Cells where the ± margin exceeds half the estimate are flagged "low precision." See methodology §12.
Measure
Estimate
± margin / note
Median household income
108,092+39.1% vs US
±5,765
Per capita income
69,534+60.6% vs US
±2,251
Population in poverty
17.3%
share of population for whom poverty status is determined
Median home value is 366% above the U.S. median ($1,413,900 vs $303,400); median rent is 58% above ($2,133 vs $1,348); price-to-income ratio is 13.1×, making it 3.4× as cost-burdened as the typical U.S. city (3.9×).
Median home value$1,413,900
US
Berkeley: $1,413,900 — 366% above the US median of $303,400.
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of cities with ACS home-value data
HUD 2-BR fair-market rent$2,912/mo
US
Berkeley: $2,912/mo — 170% above the US median of $1,077/mo.
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of cities with a HUD Fair Market Rent
Poverty (Census SAIPE 2024, model-based), unemployment (BLS LAUS 2024 annual averages), and remote-work share (ACS 2020–2024) for Berkeley. Numbers are labeled at their native grain — place-grain when BLS publishes it, otherwise per-county. We do not compute population-weighted county averages. See methodology §13.
Measure
Value
Grain
Unemployment rate (annual avg)
4.2%
Berkeley (BLS sub-state LAUS)
Civilian labor force
62,780
2024 annual avg
Worked from home
37.1%+164.8% vs US
share of workers 16+ commuting from home · U.S. median: 14% · ACS
County context — Berkeley sits in Alameda County:
County
Poverty rate
Median HH income
Unemployment
Alameda County
8.8%
$128,031
4.5%
Top industries by private employment — NAICS supersectors rolled up from Berkeley's linked county in the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW, 2024 annual averages). See methodology §11.
#
Industry (NAICS supersector)
Private employment
Avg weekly wage
#1
Health care and social assistance (62)
125,297
$1,476 / wk
#2
Manufacturing (31-33)
90,559
$2,274 / wk
#3
Professional and technical services (54)
74,460
$3,004 / wk
#4
Retail trade (44-45)
62,490
$1,096 / wk
#5
Accommodation and food services (72)
58,021
$688 / wk
What workers earn in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metro — top occupations by employment plus six curated benchmarks (registered nurse, software developer, elementary teacher, general manager, retail salesperson, truck driver). Wages are metro-area medians from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). See methodology §25.
Home Health and Personal Care Aides is the largest tracked occupation in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metro (119,120 jobs, median $35,950/yr).
▸Show all 12 occupations
Occupation
Employment
Median annual
Median hourly
Home Health and Personal Care Aides
119,120
$35,950
$17.28
Fast Food and Counter Workers
49,970
$43,870
$21.09
Cashiers
38,250
$41,270
$19.84
Office Clerks, General
37,590
$52,000
$25.00
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand
30,710
$48,400
$23.27
Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel
29,980
$96,960
$46.61
Software Developers · benchmark
69,030
$186,640
$89.73
General and Operations Managers · benchmark
43,520
$149,990
$72.11
Registered Nurses · benchmark
41,750
$186,610
$89.71
Retail Salespersons · benchmark
39,460
$43,850
$21.08
Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education · benchmark
17,860
$101,860
—
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers · benchmark
All items run 15.6% above the U.S. average (RPP 115.6); rents run 94.7% above (RPP 194.7) — the metro's housing premium is the main driver.
Cost of living (RPP, all items)RPP 115.6
US
Berkeley's cost of living runs 15.6% above the U.S. average (RPP 115.6 vs 100).
Scale: 10th–90th percentile of metro/non-metro areas with a BEA price parity
BEA Regional Price Parity (all items)
RPP 115.6
+15.6% vs U.S. average · BEA 2024 · San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metro
HUD Fair Market Rent, 2-BR
$2,912/mo
FY2026 · Oakland-Fremont, CA HUD Metro FMR Area
State income tax (top marginal rate)
12.30%
9 brackets · TY2025
Family-of-four monthly budget total
$16,469/mo
3BR rent + food + childcare + taxes + transport · federal sources
Single-adult monthly budget total
$6,977/mo
1BR rent + food + taxes + transport · federal sources
Local income tax
—
not applicable in California · no modeled local income tax
Household budget figures are arithmetic floors using current federal sources at the grains documented in methodology. Not a recommended salary, not a poverty threshold, not a composite score.
21.1% foreign-born (U.S. median 14%); Spanish is the most-spoken language at home other than English (8.9% of residents 5+).
A quick read on Berkeley's residents — nativity and languages spoken at home shown above, from the ACS 5-Year 2020–2024. The full demographic breakdown (age, race and ethnicity, household types, and educational attainment, each with its margin of error) lives on the demographics page.
Hottest month: September (76°F avg high). Coldest: January (43°F avg low). Annual precipitation: 23.1 in.
30-year climate normals (1991-2020) for Berkeley from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. See methodology §15 for the gridded vs. station source path.
Average monthly highs & lows · 30-year normal (NOAA 1991–2020). Every number on this chart is an average.
bar = avg daily high → avg daily lowprecip in inches below each barprecip in millimeters below each bar
Composite risk score: 99.8/100 — Very High nationally; top hazard: Earthquake (100.0).
Natural-hazard exposure for Berkeley from the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index (FEMA NRI December 2025 v1.20.0). NRI is an expected-annual-loss composite calibrated on 1996–2019 historical losses, published at the U.S. county grain. See methodology §17.
County
NRI composite
Rating
Top hazards
Alameda County
99.8
Very High
Earthquake 100.0 Very High · Landslide 99.8 Relatively High · Riverine Flooding 99.7 Very High
Source: FEMA National Risk Index · FEMA NRI December 2025 v1.20.0 · methodology →
How fast is home internet in Berkeley?
14 non-satellite ISPs serve the area; 86% of locations have gigabit-capable service per ISP filings.
Fixed broadband availability for Berkeley from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's Broadband Data Collection (BDC), as of June 30, 2025. Every speed and provider count below is an ISP-reported advertised maximum — not measured throughput. Actual delivered speeds typically run 60–80% of advertised. See methodology §16.
Measure
Value
Note
Providers serving this city
14 + satellite
distinct ISPs, excluding satellite-only
Fiber providers
10
offer fiber-to-the-premises somewhere in the BDC
Units with ≥100/20 Mbps fixed
100.0%
share of broadband-serviceable units, ISP-reported max
Locations with ≥100 Mbps upload
85.6%
derived: max(fiber ≥100/20, gigabit). Fiber is symmetric; gigabit is ≥100 up by definition
Units with ≥1 Gbps fixed
85.6%
share of broadband-serviceable units, ISP-reported max
Total broadband-serviceable units
63,180
residential locations in the FCC Fabric (not households)
Source: FCC BDC · as of June 30, 2025 · methodology →
In-state context.
Berkeley sits at state rank #53 among 483 cities in California. Nearby in the state ranking:
Just above in the profiled set: Hartford, CT · #249 · 121,981 residents.
Just below in the profiled set: Independence, MO · #251 · 121,675 residents.
Quick travel facts for Berkeley
Quick travel facts.
Nearest commercial airport
San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport(OAK) · 11 mi 18 km from city centroid
Best months to visit
Jun, Jul, Oct · months when the avg high sits in 65–80°F and precipitation is at or below the city's median monthly precip
Sources: elevation from USGS Elevation Point Query Service (3DEP) · nearest airport from OurAirports CSV (FAA-aligned, type=large/medium, scheduled_service=yes) · best months derived from NOAA 1991-2020 normals · methodology →
Frequently asked questions about Berkeley.
How many people live in Berkeley, CA?
Berkeley has 121,911 residents as of July 1, 2025, making it the #250 largest city in the United States and #53 in California. Source: U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025.
Is Berkeley growing or shrinking?
Berkeley has shrunk 1.9% since the April 2020 census baseline, losing 2,381 residents. The most recent year ticked up slightly (+1,246 residents, +1.0% from 2024 to 2025). Source: Census PEP Vintage 2025.
What was Berkeley's population in the 2020 census?
The GEOID for Berkeley is 0606000. These are the official datasets used by this profile's main data modules; click "methodology" for inclusion rules and the V2019 ↔ V2025 seam, or "source" for the raw publisher page. The headline population value above includes a source-detail disclosure with publisher, dataset, vintage, native geography, transformation, and caveat.
