Alameda County · San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley · population 121,749
Where Berkeley stands
Population shrinking 0.5% per year.
Home value trajectory · last 10 years
Zillow ZHVI · monthlyLifestyle scores
Scores are heuristic estimates from population density, state, and known transit/walkable cities. Not based on a paid Walk Score / Transit Score API — see methodology for the formula.
Rent trajectory · last 5 years
Zillow ZORI · monthlyHome value vs rent · indexed to 100
Both rebased at first month of ZORI data (~2015)Rent vs buy
At a 38.6 price-to-rent ratio, renting beats buying in Berkeley for most shorter holds. The premium you pay to own would take many years of rent savings to recoup, and that's before maintenance, taxes, and opportunity cost on the down payment.
How the momentum score breaks down
methodology →Berkeley has held up across the cycle: home values at $1,451,222 with +0.2% 5-year CAGR. The bull case is structural — population, location, employer base — and holds even if next year's print is soft.
Berkeley's population is shrinking 0.5% per year. Housing demand has to come from somewhere — if people are leaving, the buyer pool is shrinking faster than the inventory. That eventually shows up in price.
About Berkeley
Berkeley is a city in Alameda County, California, with an estimated population of 121,749. It anchors the San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley metro area. The population has contracted 0.5% per year on average since 2020. The median home value in Berkeley is $1,451,222 as of 2026-04, down 0.6% over the last 12 months. Over the last five years, home values have averaged +0.2% annual growth, and the market currently sits about 13% below its 5-year peak. Rents in Berkeley average $3,136 per month, roughly flat year-over-year (+0.6%). The composite momentum score is 41 of 100 (Cooling). Buyers may find more room to negotiate; sellers should price realistically.
▲ Bull case
▼ Bear case
About Berkeley (Wikipedia)
Berkeley is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emeryville to the south and the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington to the north. Its eastern border with Contra Costa County generally follows the ridge of the Berkeley Hills. The 2020 census recorded a population of 124,321.
Source: Wikipedia · this summary is contributed and licensed under CC-BY-SA.
City facts
Extracted from the Wikipedia infobox. Values may be slightly out of date relative to the latest sources.
Things to see in Berkeley(Landmarks and historic districts)
- Berkeley High School (the city's only public high school) and the Berkeley Community Theatre, which is on its campus.
- Berkeley Women's City Club, now Berkeley City Club – Julia Morgan (1929–30)
- First Church of Christ, Scientist – Bernard Maybeck (1910)
- St. John's Presbyterian Church – Julia Morgan (1910), now the Berkeley Playhouse
- Studio Building – architect not recorded, built for Frederick H. Dakin (1905)
- Thorsen House (Sigma Phi Society of the Thorsen House) – Charles Sumner Greene & Henry Mather Greene (1908–10)
- George C. Edwards Stadium – Located at intersection of Bancroft Way and Fulton Street on University of California, Berkeley campus (convert|80|acre, 3 buildings, 4 structures, 3 objects; added 1993).
Extracted from the Wikipedia article. Names linked in the source — open the city’s Wikipedia page for details.
Playbook
You have leverage. Negotiate price, ask for closing-cost credits, and don't waive inspection. Walk-away power is real in a Cooling market — use it.
Price aggressively (at or below recent sold comps) or be prepared to wait. Concessions — rate buydowns, closing costs, repair credits — are how deals close right now.
Cap rates are more attractive than they were 12 months ago but the appreciation tailwind is gone. Confirm tenant demand, vacancy rates, and exit liquidity before committing capital.
Local safety & alerts
No active National Weather Service alerts for Alameda County right now.
Public-safety links are official .gov sources, not curated by us. Alameda County routes NWS alerts; check the state EM portal for non-weather emergencies.
Neighborhoods of Berkeley
14 tracked · ranked by median home valueCities like Berkeley
Run the numbers for Berkeley
Sources: Zillow ZHVI (home values), Zillow ZORI (rents), US Census ACS + place population. Updated when source agencies publish revisions.
Climate & natural-disaster risk
State-level averages from NOAA Climate Normals (1991-2020) and FEMA National Risk Index. City-level conditions can vary significantly within a state.
Local sports teams
Major professional teams the San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley area cheers for. Detailed stats, schedules, and player pages on intherafters.com.
Current weather
Find rentals & listings
Open current Berkeley listings on the major real-estate sites.
Links open the live search on the destination site — results are always current.
Local news & community
Latest news
- To sell a home in this California city, it must be climate friendlyLos Angeles Times · 10h ago
- Formerly incarcerated, homeless, at 43, UC Berkeley senior graduates with top honorKTVU · 1d ago
- The Indigenous Exhibit That Trump Failed to StopU.S. News & World Report · 10h ago
- AT&T, blocked by California regulators from scrapping landlines, launches double-barreled appeal at federal levelThe Mercury News · 4h ago
- Driver Dies After Sending Truck Into East Bay Channel: PolicePatch · 12h ago
- Dr. Arthur Laffer Torches California Billionaire Tax During Packed Berkeley DebateYoung America's Foundation · 1d ago
Updated 2026-05-21 from Google News + Reddit RSS. Headlines link to original sources.
Local economy & environment
Humidity is annual average relative humidity (NOAA). Income is Census ACS 5-year estimate. Industries are largest employment sectors statewide (BLS); the local mix in a given city may vary.
Cities similar to Berkeley
Explore other places with comparable momentum or affordability.