Alameda County Surpasses Contra Costa in Affluence (Los Angeles, San Diego: new home, tech jobs)

[18Montclair]

At least as far as median household income is concerned, this is the first time in at least 25 years of data that Alameda has a higher median income.

California Counties by Median Family Income, 2017:
Santa Clara, CA $119,035
San Mateo, CA $116,653
Marin, CA $113,908
San Francisco, CA $110,816
Alameda, CA $96,296
Contra Costa, CA $95,339
Napa, CA $86,562
Orange, CA $86,217
Ventura, CA $82,857
Placer, CA $80,728
Sonoma, CA $80,409
Santa Cruz, CA $ 79,705
El Dorado, CA $79,414
Solano, CA $77,133
San Diego, CA $76,207
San Luis Obispo, CA $71,880
Monterey, CA $71,274
Santa Barbara, CA $71,106
Nevada, CA $65,385
Yolo, CA $65,729
Los Angeles, CA $65,006
Riverside, CA $63,944
Yuba, CA $63,120
Sacramento, CA $63,045
San Joaquin, CA $61,164
San Bernardino, CA $60,420
Stanislaus, CA $59,514
Kings, CA $57,555
Sutter, CA $55,062
Mendocino, CA $53,024
Shasta, CA $52,439
Fresno, CA $51,800
Madera, CA $51,283
Kern, CA $49,854
Butte, CA $49,061
Lake, CA $48,930
Merced, CA $47,735
Imperial, CA $47,211
Humboldt, CA $46,494
Tulare, CA $46,266

[netaxcat]

I live in the Alameda county. I've witnessed the fast gentrification in the past few years.

Alameda locates in the central bay of the Bay Area, with very nice bay weather and comfortable breeze from the bay.

Other central bay area cities are way overpacked and overpriced. People and businesses have been exploring the Alameda county and gentrifying the cities, especially in the past few years.

[davdaven]

Not surprised. Alameda County is feeling the pressure from both San Francisco and Silicon Valley. Contra Costa County, on the other hand, is only affected by SF. And speaking from recent experience, Contra Costa County is still relatively affordable from a housing standpoint, while there is almost nowhere left in Alameda County where that is the case.

[roadwarrior101]

Contra Costa has the median income brought down because it covers a wider geographic area, which includes the outer exurbs of Pittsburg, Antioch and Brentwood (essentially part of the San Joaquin Valley). Alameda, on the other hand just straddles the Bay, with only Dublin, Pleasanton and Livermore further east.

I'll bet if you only looked at the affluent suburbs of Contra Costa (Lamorinda, Tri-Valley, Walnut Creek), it would look much differently.

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by roadwarrior101

Contra Costa has the median income brought down because it covers a wider geographic area, which includes the outer exurbs of Pittsburg, Antioch and Brentwood (essentially part of the San Joaquin Valley). Alameda, on the other hand just straddles the Bay, with only Dublin, Pleasanton and Livermore further east.

I'll bet if you only looked at the affluent suburbs of Contra Costa (Lamorinda, Tri-Valley, Walnut Creek), it would look much differently.

Perhaps but Alameda County has still surged above Contra Costa overall.

I remember when Alameda was behind not only Contra Costa, but also Placer, El Dorado, Orange, Ventura and Napa.

Now Alameda is comfortably ahead of the others and has just passed Contra Costa-which is very surprising to someone like me who studies income data for this area.

Median Household Income
County-------------------2005--------2017
Contra Costa---------$69,487------$95,339
Alameda----------------$61,014------$96,296

Median Family Income
County-------------------2005--------2017
Contra Costa---------$82,641------$108,124
Alameda----------------$74,662------$115,386

Households Earning $200,000+
County-------------------2005--------2017
Contra Costa---------28,755------71,461
Alameda----------------28,611------101,429

I definitely think it's due to the spillover of tech money from Santa Clara.

[aslowdodge]

Originally Posted by roadwarrior101

Contra Costa has the median income brought down because it covers a wider geographic area, which includes the outer exurbs of Pittsburg, Antioch and Brentwood (essentially part of the San Joaquin Valley). Alameda, on the other hand just straddles the Bay, with only Dublin, Pleasanton and Livermore further east.

I'll bet if you only looked at the affluent suburbs of Contra Costa (Lamorinda, Tri-Valley, Walnut Creek), it would look much differently.

Don’t forget that alameda county includes lower income areas too like Hayward, San Leandro, San Lorenzo.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by 18Montclair

Perhaps but Alameda County has still surged above Contra Costa overall.

I remember when Alameda was behind not only Contra Costa, but also Placer, El Dorado, Orange, Ventura and Napa.

Now Alameda is comfortably ahead of the others and has just passed Contra Costa-which is very surprising to someone like me who studies income data for this area.

Median Household Income
County-------------------2005--------2017
Contra Costa---------$69,487------$95,339
Alameda----------------$61,014------$96,296

Median Family Income
County-------------------2005--------2017
Contra Costa---------$82,641------$108,124
Alameda----------------$74,662------$115,386

Households Earning $200,000+
County-------------------2005--------2017
Contra Costa---------28,755------71,461
Alameda----------------28,611------101,429

I definitely think it's due to the spillover of tech money from Santa Clara.

More like software companies booming in San Francisco. And the tri-Valley has the Peoplesoft/Sybase sphere creating software companies in Dublin/Pleasanton/San Ramon. Tech jobs expanded from Santa Clara county. And those jobs were different. S.V. was rooted in manufacturing. The new tech boom in sigtware has smaller space requirements.

[likealady]

It's all those techies who can't afford the southern peninsula but want a short-ish commute.

[roadwarrior101]

Originally Posted by 18Montclair

I definitely think it's due to the spillover of tech money from Santa Clara.

You are probably correct. Tons of new homes being built in Dublin and Livermore. There are also a fair amount in San Ramon, but not to the sheer extent. People are moving close to the BART stations in Dublin or West Dublin and also moving to older stock homes in Pleasanton where the commute to the SV is a little shorter.

[silverkris]

Originally Posted by roadwarrior101

People are moving close to the BART stations in Dublin or West Dublin and also moving to older stock homes in Pleasanton where the commute to the SV is a little shorter.

The commute from Pleasanton, Dublin to Silicon Valley is still pretty awful...