- Cities
- United States
- Oakland, California
How walkable is Oakland, California?
By Oscar Higson-Spence. Updated
Oakland, California has a walkability score of 72 out of 100 across the 5 km around its center, which makes it very walkable: most errands can be done on foot. It is the joint 17th most walkable of the 58 cities ranked in the United States, with 1 other.
What's within walking distance of the center
1,704 shops, restaurants, parks and other everyday places are mapped within a 30 minute walk of central Oakland, California. The nearest grocery is about 2 minutes away on foot. It earns full or nearly full points for groceries, restaurants & bars, shopping, coffee, banks, parks, schools and culture & entertainment.
Groceries
- Urban Remedy, 3 min
- Grocery Outlet, 10 min
Restaurants & bars
- Bacheesos, 4 min
- Persian Nights Restaurant, 4 min
Shopping
- 7-Eleven, 3 min
- Redbox, 3 min
Coffee
- 1888 Coffee Station, 4 min
- Specialty's Cafe & Bakery, 7 min
Banks
- Commercial Bank Of California (formerly Community Bank Of The Bay), 5 min
- Bank of America ATM, 9 min
Parks
- Snow Park, 9 min
- Oak Park, 12 min
Schools
- Westlake Middle School, 4 min
- St. Paul's Episcopal Upper School, 4 min
Books & libraries
- California Digital Library, 13 min
- WEST Shared Print Program, 13 min
Culture & entertainment
- California Revels, 4 min
- Storybook Puppet Theater, 5 min
Measured from the center at 37.8121, -122.2594, the point near Oakland, California's middle with the most places in walking range. Walking times assume 80 m per minute along an estimated street route.
Street layout
Within 800 m of the center there are about 91 street intersections per km², and blocks average 99 m long. That is a well-connected street grid, so the score is not reduced.
How far walkability reaches
Oakland, California's score of 72 is the average across the 5 km around its center, the point with the most everyday places within a walk. Walkability averages 96 within 1 km of the center, 81 from 1 to 3 km out and 63 from 3 to 5 km out. 64% of the sampled area scores 70 or more, where most errands can be done on foot. Walkability falls off steeply away from the center, so check a specific address on the map.
- 90+
- 70–89
- 50–69
- 25–49
- 0–24
Each hexagon is the score at a point, 1 km from its neighbours, across the 5 km around central Oakland, California. Rings mark 1, 3 and 5 km from the center. Gaps are water or land without streets.
| Area | Score | Scoring 70+ |
|---|---|---|
| Center | 96 | 100% |
| Within 1 km | 96 | 100% |
| 1 to 3 km out | 81 | 79% |
| 3 to 5 km out | 63 | 51% |
Nearby cities
| City | Distance | Score |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco, United States | 13 km | 91 |
| San Jose, California, United States | 61 km | 67 |
| Sacramento, California, United States | 110 km | 62 |
| Bakersfield, California, United States | 397 km | 51 |
| Los Angeles, United States | 553 km | 82 |
Questions about walking in Oakland, California
Is Oakland, California a walkable city?
Around its center, yes. Oakland, California has a walkability score of 72 out of 100 across the 5 km around its center, which makes it very walkable: most errands can be done on foot. Its center scores 96. The score covers about 80 km² around the busiest point rather than the whole city, and suburbs further out are usually less walkable, so check a specific address on the map. It ranks joint 17th of 58 cities in the United States and joint 255th of 690 worldwide on How Walkable.
What is the most walkable city in the United States?
New York City is the most walkable of the 58 cities ranked in the United States, with a score of 93. Oakland, California ranks joint 17th with 72.
How does Oakland, California compare with nearby cities?
Oakland, California sits between its nearest ranked neighbours: it scores 72, against San Francisco (91, 13 km away), San Jose, California (67, 61 km away) and Sacramento, California (62, 110 km away).
Which part of Oakland, California is most walkable?
Oakland's most walkable area is its center, the point near the middle of the city with the most places in walking range, which scores 96. Walkability averages 96 within 1 km of it. Beyond 2.5 km, it holds up best to the north (averaging 88) and falls most to the north-east (38).
Why is Oakland, California's score different from its Walk Score?
Walk Score's city scores average every neighborhood within the city limits, weighted by where people live, so they count outer suburbs that the 5 km around Oakland, California's center leaves out, and they are usually lower. Address by address the two agree closely: across 46 addresses in the United States and Canada, How Walkable's scores were 5.9 points from Walk Score's on average, as the accuracy study at howwalkable.com/accuracy shows.
How is Oakland, California's walkability score calculated?
For Oakland, California it is the average of 83 points spaced 1 km apart within 5 km of its busiest point, leaving out water and land without streets; 53 of them score 70 or more. Each point counts groceries, restaurants, shops, cafés, banks, parks, schools, libraries and cultural venues within a 30 minute walk, gives nearer places more weight, and loses up to 20% where streets are sparse or blocks are long, using open map data from Overture Maps (release 2026-09-23.1) and OpenStreetMap. It measures what is within a walk, not what the walk is like: pavements, traffic, safety, hills and heat are not part of the score.
This page is generated from open map data with a published walkability method, explained in the methodology. Places from Overture Maps release 2026-09-23.1. City position and population from GeoNames.
Ask about walking anywhere in ChatGPT with the How Walkable app, for example "How walkable is Oakland, California?"