menu
Data on this report is based on areas within the legal city boundary, outlined in black on the map. Any additional neighborhoods shown on the map are associated with the city by name and are included for reference only.

Orinda, CA
Real Estate & Demographic Data






Orinda profile


Living in Orinda



Orinda is a medium-sized city located in the state of California. With a population of 19,355 people and four associated neighborhoods, Orinda is the 324th largest community in California.

Orinda home prices are not only among the most expensive in California, but Orinda real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.

Of important note, Orinda is also a city of artists. Orinda has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Orinda’s character.

And if you like science, one thing you'll find is that Orinda has lots of scientists living in town - whether they be life scientists, physical scientists (like astronomers), or social scientists (like geographers!). So, if you're scientific-minded, you might like it here too.

Also of interest is that Orinda has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 29.61% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

In addition, Orinda is home to many people who could be described as "urban sophisticates". Urban sophisticates are people who are both educated and wealthy, and thus tend to be older, richer, and more established than young professionals. "Urban sophisticates" is not just about being educated and well-off financially: it is a point of view and state of mind, one that you might call 'urbaneness'. But such people can and do regularly live in small towns, suburbs and rural areas, as well as in big cities. They read, support the arts and high-end shops, and love travel.

Because of many things, Orinda is a very good place for families to consider. With an enviable combination of good schools, low crime, college-educated neighbors who tend to support education because of their own experiences, and a high rate of home ownership in predominantly single-family properties, Orinda really has some of the features that families look for when choosing a good community to raise children. Is Orinda perfect? Of course not, and if you like frenetic nightlife, it will be far from your cup of tea. But overall this is a solid community, with many things to recommend it as a family-friendly place to live.

In Orinda, however, the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 35.45 minutes each day getting to work, which is significantly higher than the national average. One bright side is that local public transit is widely used, so it may be an option to avoid the headache of driving in the heavy traffic by leaving the car at home and taking transit.

Despite being a small city, Orinda has a lot of people using the subway to get to and from work every day. Most of these people on the subway are using it to get to good jobs in other cities.

Do you like to read, write and learn? If you move to Orinda, you'll likely find that many of your neighbors like to as well. Orinda is one of the more educated communities in America, with a full 86.31% of its adults having a college degree or even advanced degree, compared to a national average across all communities of 21.84%.

The per capita income in Orinda in 2022 was $141,683, which is wealthy relative to California and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $566,732 for a family of four.

Orinda is a very ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Orinda home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Orinda residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Orinda include German, Irish, English, Italian, and Scottish.

In addition, Orinda has a lot of people living here who were born outside of the US (18.30%).

The most common language spoken in Orinda is English. Other important languages spoken here include Chinese and Spanish.