Oakland, California
| Oakland, California | |
 | |
| General information | |
Mayor of Oakland
Kevin Jenkins | |
| Last mayoral election: | 2022 |
| Next mayoral election: | 2025 |
| Last city council election: | 2024 |
| Next city council election: | 2025 |
| City council seats: | 8 |
| City website | |
| Composition data (2019) | |
| Population: | 425,097 |
| Race: | White 35.5% African American 23.8% Asian 15.5% Native American 0.9% Pacific Islander 0.6% Two or more 6.9% |
| Ethnicity: | Hispanic 27.0% |
| Median household income: | $73,692 |
| High school graduation rate: | 82.6% |
| College graduation rate: | 44.0% |
| Related Oakland offices | |
| California's 9th congressional district California's 13th congressional district California Legislature California state executive offices | |
Oakland is a city in Alameda County, California. The city's population was 440,646 as of 2020, according to the United States Census Bureau.
Click on the links below to learn more about the city's...
- Mayor
- City council
- Other elected officials
- Elections
- Census information
- Budget
- Contact information
- Ballot measures
- County government
City government
- See also: Council-manager government
The city government of Oakland combines a council-manager system with a strong mayor system. In this form of municipal government, the city council serves as the city's primary legislative body and the mayor serves as the city's chief executive. The mayor, however, appoints a city administrator to oversee the city's day-to-day operations and execute city policies.[1]
Mayor
The mayor serves as the city's chief executive and is responsible for overseeing the city's executive branch, appointing the city administrator, proposing a budget to the council, recommending measures and legislation for the city council's consideration, encourage programs for the city's cultural, economic, physical, and social development; appoint members to boards and commissions, and represent the city in intergovernmental relations. The mayor is not a member of the city council, but they may cast a tie-breaking vote in council meetings in the event of a deadlock.[1][2]
The acting Mayor of Oakland is Kevin Jenkins (nonpartisan). Jenkins assumed office in 2025.
City council
The Oakland City Council is the city's primary legislative body. It is responsible for approving and adopting the city budget, making city policy and providing general policy direction through the city's executive branch, appointing committee and commission members, serving as the Redevelopment Agency Board of Directors, and voting on ordinances and resolutions.[1]
The city council consists of eight members. Seven members are elected by one of the city's seven districts, while one is elected at large.[2]
The widget below automatically displays information about city council meetings. The topic list contains a sampling of keywords that Voterheads, a local government monitoring service, found in each meeting agenda. Click the meeting link to see more info and the full agenda:
Other elected officials
Mayoral partisanship
Oakland has a Democratic mayor. As of March 2025, 65 mayors in the largest 100 cities by population are affiliated with the Democratic Party, 25 are affiliated with the Republican Party, one is affiliated with the Libertarian Party, two are independents, four identify as nonpartisan or unaffiliated, and three mayors' affiliations are unknown. Click here for a list of the 100 largest cities' mayors and their partisan affiliations.
Mayoral elections are officially nonpartisan in most of the nation's largest cities. However, many officeholders are affiliated with political parties. Ballotpedia uses one or more of the following sources to identify each officeholder's partisan affiliation: (1) direct communication from the officeholder, (2) current or previous candidacy for partisan office, or (3) identification of partisan affiliation by multiple media outlets.
Elections
2025
The city of Oakland, California, is holding special elections for mayor and city council on April 15, 2025. The filing deadline for this election was January 17, 2025.
2024
The city of Oakland, California, held general elections for city council and city attorney on November 5, 2024. The filing deadline for this election was August 9, 2024.
Oakland held a special election for city auditor on March 5, 2024. The filing deadline for this election was December 8, 2023.
2022
The city of Oakland, California, held general elections for mayor, city auditor, and city council on November 8, 2022. The filing deadline for this election was August 12, 2022.
2020
The city of Oakland, California, held general elections for at-large city council districts 1, 3, 5, and 7 and city attorney on November 3, 2020. The filing deadline for this election was August 7, 2020.
2018
The city of Oakland, California, held general elections for mayor, city council, and auditor on November 6, 2018. The deadline for candidates to file to run in this election was August 10, 2018.
2016
The city of Oakland, California, held elections for city council in 2016. Five of the eight city council seats were up for election.
2014
The city of Oakland, California, held nonpartisan elections for mayor and city council on November 4, 2014. The filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was August 8, 2014. In Districts 2 and 4, however, the deadline was extended to August 13, 2014, because an incumbent did not file to run.[3] Three of the eight city council seats - Districts 2, 4 and 6 - were up for election.
Census information
The table below shows demographic information about the city.
| Demographic Data for Oakland | |
|---|---|
| Oakland | |
| Population | 440,646 |
| Land area (sq mi) | 55 |
| Race and ethnicity** | |
| White | 30.5% |
| Black/African American | 21.1% |
| Asian | 15.5% |
| Native American | 1.2% |
| Pacific Islander | 0.7% |
| Two or more | 11.6% |
| Hispanic/Latino | 28.9% |
| Education | |
| High school graduation rate | 84.8% |
| College graduation rate | 47.9% |
| Income | |
| Median household income | $97,369 |
| Persons below poverty level | 13.7% |
| Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2018-2023). | |
| **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | |
Budget
The city’s budget process operates between January and June to determine the budget for the next two fiscal years. In January, the city receives input from the city council and the community about budget priorities. In May, the mayor releases the proposed budget. By June 30, the city council adopts the final budget, which provides a two-year spending plan. The budget is approved every two fiscal years and runs from July 1 of the first year through June 30 of end of the two-year cycle.[4]
| “ | Our Goal: A Balanced Budget
A balanced budget that ensures our "revenues" (the amount of money the City brings in) are equal to or greater than our "expenditures" (the amount of money the City spends to deliver essential services). While other cities and government agencies have different cycles, Oakland approves a budget every two fiscal years.[4][5] |
” |
Fiscally standardized cities data
The fiscally standardized cities (FiSC) data below was compiled by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy to make municipal budgets comparable across cities in the United States.[6]
| “ |
FiSCs are constructed by adding revenues and expenditures of each central city municipal government to a portion of the revenues and expenditures of overlying governments, including counties, independent school districts, and special districts. The allocations to FiSCs are estimates of the revenues collected from and services provided to central city residents and businesses by these overlying independent governments. Thus FiSCs provides a full picture of revenues raised from city residents and businesses and spending on their behalf, whether done by the city government or a separate overlying government.[5] |
” |
| —Lincoln Institute of Land Policy[7] | ||
The tables below show estimated finances within city limits. As such, the revenue and expenses listed may differ from the actual city budget.
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Historical total revenue and expenditure
To see the historical total revenue or expenditures as a rounded amount in this city, hover over the bars.[6]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 City of Oakland, "City of Oakland Government 101," accessed August 9, 2021
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 City of Oakland, "Mayor Libby Schaaf," accessed August 9, 2021
- ↑ City of Oakland, "Municipal Election November 4, 2014," accessed March 10, 2014
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 City of Oakland, "Fiscal Year 2021-2023 Budget," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, "Fiscally Standardized Cities database," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, "Fiscally Standardized Cities," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ KPIX, "Peaceful Protesters Marched In Oakland Demanding Justice For George Floyd," May 28, 2020
- ↑ Movement Advancement Project, "Local Employment Non-Discrimination Ordinances," accessed July 7, 2015
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