Inside Piedmont as its besieged by crime-plagued neighbor Oakland

A tiny California enclave completely surrounded by Oakland is a world apart from its troubled neighbor, with multimillion-dollar homes, sky-high incomes and a dramatically different crime picture despite the two communities sharing a border.Piedmont is only 1.7 square miles and has about 11,000 residents, but there is a huge financial gap between it and the adjoining city.The typical Piedmont home is worth $2.57 million, according to Zillow data, compared with $721,966 in Oakland.It means that the typical house in Piedmont is worth more than three and a half times the value of a house in Oakland.The income gap is just as clear.Median household income in Piedmont is at least $250,000, according to the latest U.S.Census figures, compared with $101,600 in Oakland.The types of jobs held by residents also reflect the affluent enclave’s professional makeup.Management is the most common occupation among Piedmont residents, with more than 1,000 people working in management roles.Professional, scientific and technical services are the largest employment sector among residents, followed by health care and social assistance and education.Oakland has a far larger and more varied workforce, with about 235,000 employed residents in 2024.Professional, scientific and technical services were also its largest employment sector, followed by health care and social assistance and educational services.However, pay for these jobs varies widely across cities.

Median earnings among working men in Piedmont were about $228,000 in 2024, while women earned roughly $140,000.In Oakland, the comparable median earnings were about $66,000 for men and $62,000 for women.The communities are also separated by a public-safety divide.Oakland recorded 4,824 violent crimes in 2025 under the city’s violent crime index, which includes homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault.California's top news, sports and entertainment delivered to your inbox every day.

Please pro...