Emeryville is a
city
A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
located in northwest
Alameda County, California
Alameda County ( ) is a List of counties in California, county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 1,682,353, making it the 7th-most populous county in the state and List ...
, in the United States. It lies in a corridor between the cities of
Berkeley and
Oakland
Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...
, with a border on the shore of
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay (Chochenyo language, Chochenyo: 'ommu) is a large tidal estuary in the United States, U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the cities of San Francisco, California, San ...
. The resident population was 12,905 as of 2020.
Its proximity to San Francisco, the
Bay Bridge, the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
, and
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that is a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical area of the Santa Clara Valley ...
has been a catalyst for recent economic growth.
It is the home to
Pixar Animation Studios
Pixar (), doing business as Pixar Animation Studios, is an American animation studio based in Emeryville, California, known for its critically and commercially successful computer-animated feature films. Pixar is a subsidiary of Walt Disney S ...
,
Peet's Coffee, the
Center for Investigative Reporting,
Alternative Tentacles
Alternative Tentacles is an independent record label established in 1979 by Dead Kennedys vocalist Jello Biafra and guitarist East Bay Ray in San Francisco, California, with the intention to release the Dead Kennedys' self-produced single " C ...
and
Clif Bar. In addition, several well-known tech and software companies are located in Emeryville:
LeapFrog,
Sendmail
Sendmail is a general purpose internetwork email routing facility that supports many kinds of mail-transfer and delivery methods, including the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) used for email transport over the Internet.
A descendant of t ...
,
MobiTV,
Novartis
Novartis AG is a Swiss multinational corporation, multinational pharmaceutical company, pharmaceutical corporation based in Basel, Switzerland. Novartis is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world and was the eighth largest by re ...
(formerly
Chiron
In Greek mythology, Chiron ( ; also Cheiron or Kheiron; ) was held to be the superlative centaur amongst his brethren since he was called the "wisest and justest of all the centaurs".
Biography
Chiron was notable throughout Greek mythology for ...
before April 2006), and
BigFix (now HCL). Emeryville attracts many
weekday commuters due to its position as a regional employment center.
Emeryville has some features of an
edge city
An edge city is a concentration of business, shopping, and entertainment outside a traditional downtown or central business district, in what had previously been a suburban, residential or rural area. The term was popularized by the 1991 boo ...
; however, it is located within the inner urban core of Oakland/the greater
East Bay
The East Bay is the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area and includes cities along the eastern shores of San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. The region has grown to include inland communities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Wi ...
. It was industrialized before the
First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
.
History
Early history
Before the colonization of the area by Spain in 1776, this area was long the site of indigenous settlements. The historic
Ohlone
The Ohlone ( ), formerly known as Costanoans (from Spanish meaning 'coast dweller'), are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of the Northern California coast. When Spanish explorers and missionaries arrived in the l ...
Native Americans encountered the Spaniards and later European colonists. They thrived on the rich resources of the bayside location: gathered
clam
Clam is a common name for several kinds of bivalve mollusc. The word is often applied only to those that are deemed edible and live as infauna, spending most of their lives halfway buried in the sand of the sea floor or riverbeds. Clams h ...
s from the mudflats, oysters from the rocky areas, caught fish, and hunted a variety of game. In addition, women gathered acorns from the local
oak
An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...
trees, roots, and fruit. The Ohlone discarded clam and oyster shells in a single place, over time creating a huge mound, now known as the
Emeryville Shellmound.
During the Spanish and Mexican eras, colonists constructed a small wharf near the mouth of
Temescal Creek adjacent to the shellmound. The wharf served the Peralta family's
Rancho San Antonio. It was used for loading cattle hides, the principal product of the ranch, onto
lighters, and transferring them to ocean-going ships, including New England–bound schooners.
Cattle were a major part of the economy into the American era, when numerous meat packing plants were established along the bayshore in Emeryville between 67th and 63rd streets, in an area called "Butchertown". The cattle processed here were raised in nearby ranches and farms, and brought in by rail or barge. The odors from the corrals and slaughterhouses were notorious and often mentioned in local newspapers of the 19th and early 20th century.
Emeryville's first post office opened in 1884.
The Town of Emeryville was incorporated December 2, 1896. It was named after Joseph Stickney Emery, who came during the
California Gold Rush
The California gold rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the U ...
and acquired large tracts of land in what became known as "Emery's". In 1884, Emery was president of a
narrow-gauge railroad called the
California and Nevada Railroad. The railroad was originally intended to extend from Oakland, through Emery's (at the time, an unincorporated settlement along the bayshore) and east across the
Sierra Nevada
The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...
to the
gold mining
Gold mining is the extraction of gold by mining.
Historically, mining gold from Alluvium, alluvial deposits used manual separation processes, such as gold panning. The expansion of gold mining to ores that are not on the surface has led to mor ...
town of
Bodie, California
Bodie ( ) is a ghost town in the Bodie Hills east of the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada mountain range in Mono County, California, United States. It is about southeast of Lake Tahoe, and east-southeast of Bridgeport, California, Bridgepo ...
. From Bodie the railroad would extend east through Nevada to a connection with the
Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. Despite these goals, the railroad was completed only from Oakland to
Orinda. Its right-of-way was sold to the
Santa Fe Railway
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the largest Railroad classes, Class 1 railroads in the United States between 1859 and 1996.
The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight tra ...
. The Santa Fe constructed a rail yard and passenger depot below San Pablo between 41st Street and Yerba Buena Avenue. Although located in Emeryville, when the depot opened in 1902, it was called "Oakland" after the larger community.
20th century and beyond

The
Key System, a local transit company, acquired the general offices of the California and Nevada and its nascent pier into San Francisco Bay. Key developed the pier to reach nearly to
Yerba Buena Island. The Key System established its main rail yard adjacent to the yard of the Santa Fe in a large tract west of San Pablo Avenue. It was in the vicinity of Yerba Buena Avenue (so named because the island was visible in line with the thoroughfare). The Key System's main power plant, used to drive its electric streetcars and commuter trains, was constructed adjacent to the city limits with Oakland. The immense smokestack was a local landmark for decades, surviving until being damaged in the
Loma Prieta earthquake
On October 17, 1989, at 5:04 p.m. PST, the Loma Prieta earthquake occurred at the Central Coast of California. The shock was centered in The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park in Santa Cruz County, approximately 10 mi (16 km) ...
of 1989. It was demolished for safety reasons shortly thereafter.
The old Key System mainline to the pier, and later, to the Bay Bridge, ran in a subway below Beach Street and the Southern Pacific mainline near the power plant. That subway survives. Today it is used as a private entrance to the main sewage treatment plant of
East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD, the water utility serving Oakland and many surrounding cities).
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, after the Santa Fe spun off its real estate development arm, this company acquired the rail yards and shops of the Key System and Santa Fe. This real estate was redeveloped by what was called the
Catellus Development Corporation, as a shopping center and multi-unit residential district.
In the late 19th century, the city developed a large park around the shellmound. This included two dance pavilions, one of which was built on top of the shellmound. The Oakland Trotting Park, for
Standardbred horse racing, was built nearby at the junction of the
Berkeley Branch line with the mainline of the Southern Pacific. The old Emeryville Arena was torn down in February 1920, to make way for a new idea for a new venue to revive the sport of dog racing, but using what the ''Oakland Tribune'' described as an "automatic rabbit".
On May 29, 1920, the first
greyhound racing
Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around an oval track. The sport originates from Hare coursing, coursing. Track racing uses an artificial lure (usually a form of windsock) that travels ahead of th ...
track to employ a mechanical lure in place of a live rabbit opened in Emeryville.
In the early 20th century, Emeryville was as well known for its gambling houses and bordellos as it was for its booming industrial sector.
Earl Warren, then Alameda County district attorney, later California governor and
Chief Justice of the United States
The chief justice of the United States is the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States and is the highest-ranking officer of the U.S. federal judiciary. Appointments Clause, Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution g ...
, described it as "the rottenest city on the Pacific Coast". During Prohibition and the
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
, Emeryville was a site of numerous speakeasies, racetracks and brothels; it became known as a somewhat lawless red light center. Today's popular local restaurant, The Townhouse, was operated as a speakeasy during Prohibition. The Oaks Room Card Club operates today as a legal gambling establishment on
San Pablo Avenue.
Emeryville was the site of
Oaks Park, the home turf of the
Pacific Coast League
The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...
's
Oakland Oaks. The ballpark was located on the block bounded by San Pablo, 45th Street and Park Street (the fourth side was Watts Street). The site is now partly empty and fenced off. It is overlapped by
Pixar
Pixar (), doing business as Pixar Animation Studios, is an American animation studio based in Emeryville, California, known for its critically and commercially successful computer-animated feature films. Pixar is a subsidiary of Walt Disney ...
Studios. Pixar's main gate (on Park Street) lies directly on the old segment of Watts Street. The stadium did not front directly on San Pablo, where a strip of various small commercial buildings stood. They were replaced by the current, one-story commercial building housing several chain businesses.
During World War II, Emeryville was the southern terminus of the
Shipyard Railway, a specially constructed electric rail line operated by the Key System to transport defense workers to the
Kaiser Shipyards
The Kaiser Shipyards were seven major shipbuilding yards located on the West Coast of the United States, United States west coast during World War II. Kaiser ranked 20th among U.S. corporations in the value of wartime production contracts. The ...
in
Richmond. The station was on the west side of San Pablo Avenue on the Key's yard property. The tracks led to San Pablo Avenue, where they were merged into existing streetcar tracks.
From the late 19th into the early 20th century, Emeryville continued development as an industrial city. Joining the meat-packing plants were the Judson Iron Works and the
Sherwin-Williams
Sherwin-Williams is an American paints and coatings company based in Cleveland, Ohio. It is primarily engaged in the manufacture, distribution, and sale of paints, coatings, floorcoverings, and related products with operations in over 120 coun ...
paint company. From 1939 until the 1970s, the Sherwin-Williams plant roof featured a massive animated neon sign showing a can of red paint tilting, spilling, and covering a globe of the earth — with the slogan "Cover the Earth". It was a familiar sight to eastbound motorists on the Bay Bridge. The sign was dismantled in the summer of 1977.
For decades the city was also the location of Shell Development, the research arm of
Shell Oil Company
Shell USA, Inc. (formerly Shell Oil Company, Inc.) is the United States–based wholly owned subsidiary of Shell plc, a UK-based transnational corporation " oil major" which is among the largest oil companies in the world. Approximately 18,000 ...
; it relocated in 1972 to
Houston
Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
, Texas. A large scrap metal yard (part of the Judson Steel mill) and its distinctive neon "Judson Steel" sign were visible for decades from the
Eastshore Freeway
Interstate 80 (I-80) is a transcontinental Interstate Highway in the United States, stretching from San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey. The segment of I-80 in California runs east from San Francisco across the San Francisc ...
until the mid-1980s. A large facility of the Pacific Intermountain Express (PIE) trucking firm was also visible. A heavy truck manufacturing division of what was formerly
International Harvester
The International Harvester Company (often abbreviated IH or International) was an American manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment, automobiles, commercial trucks, lawn and garden products, household equipment, and more. It wa ...
, later
Navistar
International Motors, LLC (formerly Navistar International Corporation) is an American manufacturer of commercial vehicles and engines, established in 1986 as a successor to the International Harvester company. International Motors produces ...
, was located in Emeryville. One of its more popular over-the-road semi-truck models, the International DCO-405, became commonly and affectionately known as an "Emeryville".
By the late 1960s, industries were beginning to move away from Emeryville. With the loss of jobs, the city began to decline. This began to change in the mid-1970s starting with the development of the marina section of Emeryville. The Judson steel mill abruptly shut down in the fall of 1986, after more than 100 years of operation, in the wake of declining profits and contentious labor negotiations.
Post-industrial redevelopment
By the late 1980s, a large shopping area had begun to develop north and south of the Powell Street corridor. Additionally, the
Chiron Corporation (now Novartis), a major biotechnology company, established its headquarters just south of the old junction of the SP mainline tracks and the old
Berkeley branchline (Shellmound Junction) at the end of Stanford Avenue, the site of the old Shellmound trotting course.
Following the
Loma Prieta earthquake
On October 17, 1989, at 5:04 p.m. PST, the Loma Prieta earthquake occurred at the Central Coast of California. The shock was centered in The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park in Santa Cruz County, approximately 10 mi (16 km) ...
in 1989, a new
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
depot was built in Emeryville to replace the former
16th Street Station in West Oakland. It had been deteriorating even before it was seriously damaged by the quake. The Emeryville station serves Amtrak's ''
California Zephyr
The ''California Zephyr'' is a Amtrak Long Distance, long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago, Illinois, Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area (at Emeryville station, Emeryville), via Omaha, Nebraska, Omaha, Denver, Sa ...
'', ''
Coast Starlight
The ''Coast Starlight'' is a Amtrak Long Distance, long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak on the West Coast of the United States between Seattle and Los Angeles via Portland, Oregon, Portland and the San Francisco Bay Area. The train, ...
'', ''
San Joaquin'', and ''
Capitol Corridor
The ''Capitol Corridor'' is a passenger train route in Northern California operated by Amtrak between San Jose, California, San Jose, in the Bay Area, and Auburn, California, Auburn, in the Sacramento Valley. The route is named after the two ...
'' trains. The ''California Zephyr'' originates here with service daily to
Chicago, Illinois
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
via
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...
, Utah and
Denver
Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
, Colorado. Buses link the station with San Francisco.
In the late 1980s the
Emeryville Public Market opened; this farmers' market also features up to twenty restaurants.
By the 1990s, the former tracts of the Santa Fe and Key System yards were redeveloped as a large shopping and residential area, as was the Shellmound corridor. Development of these areas included major roadwork, with the extension of 40th Street. The work included construction of a large overpass across the Southern Pacific (now Union Pacific) railroad tracks; it connected 40th Street to an extension of Shellmound Street, creating a single thoroughfare linking two sections of the new Emeryville. On the northern stretch of Shellmound Street, the Emery Marketplace and a movie multiplex were built. In 2007, the western end of Yerba Buena Avenue was linked with the northern end of the Mandela Parkway, creating a new through route between Emeryville and West Oakland.
In 2001, the city contracted developer Madison Marquette to build a new shopping center, the
Bay Street Shopping Center. It was to be built on the site of a defunct paint factory. But this was a historic site of an
Ohlone
The Ohlone ( ), formerly known as Costanoans (from Spanish meaning 'coast dweller'), are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of the Northern California coast. When Spanish explorers and missionaries arrived in the l ...
village and
burial ground. Madison Marquette developers worked with archaeologists and Ohlone tribe representatives in order to avoid disturbing the human remains. The tribe approved reinterment of some remains at an undisclosed location on the site. The completed mall displays photographs of the historic shellmound, but it does not mention the burial grounds. An Ohlone representative said they believed the information would make shoppers there uncomfortable.
In February 2025,
Sutter Health announced plans for a major healthcare expansion in Emeryville with a US$1 billion medical campus. This project will repurpose two existing buildings—located at 5555 Hollis Street and 5300 Chiron Street—as outpatient centers and specialty clinics set to open in 2028, and will include a new flagship hospital at 53rd and Horton Streets scheduled to open in 2033. The new hospital (expected to replace the Alta Bates campus in Berkeley) will feature at least 200 beds, emergency services, an intensive care unit, and private patient rooms. Designed to address the growing healthcare needs of the East Bay, the development is expected to boost Sutter Health’s patient capacity from roughly 480,000 to 800,000, and it is anticipated to have a significant positive economic impact on Emeryville by creating hundreds of jobs and stimulating local business growth.
Geography
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the city has a total area of , of which of it is land and of it (38.02%) is water. Named Watergate, the Emeryville marina is home to a mixed-use development, including two marinas (one public, the other private), a park, a residential condominium community known as Watergate, a business park with several office buildings, and several restaurants.
Mudflats and other environmental features
At one time, the Emeryville Mudflats were famous for their stench. In the 19th and early 20th century, this was caused by the effluent from the "Butchertown" area, where several meat-packing plants operated along the bayshore. They also dumped stripped carcasses in the bay here. Later, untreated
sewage
Sewage (or domestic sewage, domestic wastewater, municipal wastewater) is a type of wastewater that is produced by a community of people. It is typically transported through a sewerage, sewer system. Sewage consists of wastewater discharged fro ...
from Emeryville, Oakland, and Berkeley flowed directly into the bay over the mudflats, producing
hydrogen sulfide
Hydrogen sulfide is a chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless chalcogen-hydride gas, and is toxic, corrosive, and flammable. Trace amounts in ambient atmosphere have a characteristic foul odor of rotten eggs. Swedish chemist ...
gas, particularly noticeable on warm days. In the 1950s the
East Bay Municipal Utility District constructed a regional sewage treatment plant near the eastern terminus of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, which, for the most part, cured the noxious problem.
The Emeryville Mudflats became notable in the 1960s and 1970s for
public art
Public art is art in any Media (arts), media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and phy ...
, erected (with neither permission nor compensation) from
driftwood
Driftwood is a wood that has been washed onto a shore or beach of a sea, lake, or river by the action of winds, tides or waves. It is part of beach wrack.
In some waterfront areas, driftwood is a major nuisance. However, the driftwood provides ...
timbers and boards by professional and amateur artists and art students from local high schools,
UC Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...
, the
California College of Arts and Crafts
The California College of the Arts (CCA) is a Private university, private art school in San Francisco, California. It was founded in Berkeley, California in 1907 and moved to a historic estate in Oakland, California in 1922. In 1996, it opened ...
and the
Free University of Berkeley. The mudflats were even featured in the
1971 film ''
Harold and Maude''. These unsanctioned works were admired by some drivers heading westbound on the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge from Interstate 80.
In the late 1990s, the sculptures and materials were removed in the interest of establishing a more natural and undisturbed marshland for the nurturing of wildlife. This process continues around the bay in many other wetlands, former diked grazing fields, and salt production evaporation ponds.
Historically, Emeryville had been the location of a number of heavy industrial uses such as Judson Steel, whose properties were developed by bringing in waste and
construction debris fill from San Francisco in the early 1900s. Correspondingly much of the underlying soil contained
heavy metals
upright=1.2, Crystals of lead.html" ;"title="osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead">osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead
Heavy metals is a controversial and ambiguous term for metallic elements with relatively h ...
,
hydrocarbons
In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons are examples of group 14 hydrides. Hydrocarbons are generally colourless and hydrophobic; their odor is usually faint, and may b ...
and other soil contaminants. Much of this contamination was removed in the 1980s when the considerable wave of redevelopment occurred. The population had increased to almost 7,000 by the year 2000. Since then, the population has continued to grow and is estimated by General Plan projects a population of 16,600 by 2030. In addition, the city is home to about 20,000 current jobs; this number is projected to increase to about 30,000 by 2030.
Climate
Emeryville has a
Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...
, similar to nearby
Oakland
Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...
.
Demographics
The
2020 United States census reported that Emeryville had a population of 12,905. The population density was . The racial makeup of Emeryville was 37.2%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 15.6%
African American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.6%
Native American, 30.7%
Asian, 0.4%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 4.8% from
other races, and 10.7% from two or more races.
Hispanic or Latino of any race were 11.1% of the population.
The Census reported that 97.6% of the population lived in households, 2.4% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and no one was institutionalized.
[
There were 6,928 households, out of which 14.2% included children under the age of 18, 25.5% were married-couple households, 11.2% were cohabiting couple households, 34.5% had a female householder with no partner present, and 28.8% had a male householder with no partner present. 45.6% of households were one person, and 11.3% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 1.82.][ There were 2,575 ]families
Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as ...
(37.2% of all households).
The age distribution was 10.8% under the age of 18, 8.0% aged 18 to 24, 49.9% aged 25 to 44, 19.6% aged 45 to 64, and 11.7% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 35.0years. For every 100 females, there were 94.7 males.[
There were 7,525 housing units at an average density of , of which 6,928 (92.1%) were occupied. Of these, 29.7% were owner-occupied, and 70.3% were occupied by renters.][
In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that 31.8% of the population were foreign-born. Of all people aged 5 or older, 62.6% spoke only English at home, 6.7% spoke Spanish, 9.1% spoke other ]Indo-European languages
The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...
, 19.3% spoke Asian or Pacific Islander languages, and 2.3% spoke other languages. Of those aged 25 or older, 97.8% were high school graduates and 74.9% had a bachelor's degree.
The median household income was $120,302, and the per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year.
In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
was $93,433. About 5.3% of families and 9.6% of the population were below the poverty line.
Politics
According to the California Secretary of State
The secretary of state of California is the chief clerk of the U.S. state of California, overseeing a department of 500 people. The Secretary of state (U.S. state government), secretary of state is elected for four year terms, like the state's o ...
, as of February 10, 2019, Emeryville has 6,654 registered voters. Of those, 4,152 (62.4%) are registered Democrats, 306 (4.6%) are registered Republicans, and 1,914 (28.8%) have declined to state a political party.
Schools
Emery Unified School District serves the students in Emeryville and parts of Oakland. Its schools, both in the same site, are Anna Yates Elementary School and Emery Secondary School.
The ''East Bay German International School'' (EBGIS) is a German immersion school operating located in the former Anna Yates school campus since 2017. The school was founded in 2007 in Berkeley. It reorganized as an independent school in 2018 after being operated by the German International School of Silicon Valley.
Ex'pression College for Digital Arts was a private, for-profit college located in Emeryville from 1993 until its closure in 2022.
Government
The city uses a council–city manager system. Emeryville City Council is the main legislative body and the mayor does not hold any formal authority separate from the council. The responsibilities of the council include adopting the city budget and setting city policy. Every year, one mayor and one vice mayor are chosen from and by the members of the council.
Economy
As of July 1, 2019, businesses with 55 or fewer employees working within the geographic boundaries of the city must pay each employee at least $16.30 per hour. Large businesses with 56 or more employees must pay the same rate (previously the rate differed based on employee count). Many businesses have set up headquarters in the city. Companies based in Emeryville include:
*Adobe Systems
Adobe Inc. ( ), formerly Adobe Systems Incorporated, is an American software, computer software company based in San Jose, California. It offers a wide range of programs from web design tools, photo manipulation and vector creation, through to ...
, a multinational technology software company headquartered in San Jose.
* Alibris Inc., an online supplier and retailer of used and rare books founded in 1997 by Martin Manley and Richard Weatherford.
*Alternative Tentacles
Alternative Tentacles is an independent record label established in 1979 by Dead Kennedys vocalist Jello Biafra and guitarist East Bay Ray in San Francisco, California, with the intention to release the Dead Kennedys' self-produced single " C ...
, an independent record label launched in 1979, specializing in punk
Punk or punks may refer to:
Genres, subculture, and related aspects
* Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres
* Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
and alternative music.
* Amyris, a biotech integrated renewable products company that is enabling the world's leading brands to achieve sustainable growth.
*Bayer
Bayer AG (English: , commonly pronounced ; ) is a German multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company and is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies and biomedical companies in the world. Headquartered in Leverkusen, Bayer' ...
, formerly Novartis Biopharma division ( Chiron Corporation prior to April 2006): a biotech
Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists in the field are kn ...
and researcher/manufacturer of biopharmaceuticals.
* Berkeley Research Group, LLC (BRG), a services and consulting firm co-founded by David Teece.
*BigFix (IBM), a software company that provides endpoint management services.
* Bionovo, a biotechnology
Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and Engineering Science, engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists ...
company focused on the discovery and development of drugs to treat cancer and women's health issues.
* BrandAds, an online video analytics company.
*The Center for Investigative Reporting, a nonprofit investigative journalism
Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, racial injustice, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend m ...
organization.
* Cetus Corporation, (acquired by Chiron
In Greek mythology, Chiron ( ; also Cheiron or Kheiron; ) was held to be the superlative centaur amongst his brethren since he was called the "wisest and justest of all the centaurs".
Biography
Chiron was notable throughout Greek mythology for ...
in 1991) one of the first biotechnology
Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and Engineering Science, engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists ...
companies. Produced pharmaceuticals Betaseron and Proleukin
Interleukin-2 (IL-2) is an interleukin, which is a type of cytokine signaling molecule forming part of the immune system. It is a 15.5–16 Dalton (unit), kDa protein that regulates the activities of white blood cells (leukocytes, often ...
. They also developed the PCR process, which won a Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...
for its inventor
An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea, or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...
in 1993.
* Clif Bar, a natural foods maker.
*Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple Inc., Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry ...
, the world's largest video game maker, had Will Wright's ''Spore
In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual reproduction, sexual (in fungi) or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for biological dispersal, dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores fo ...
'' development team Maxis
Maxis is an American video game developer and a Division (business), division of Electronic Arts (EA). The studio was founded in 1987 by Will Wright (game designer), Will Wright and Jeff Braun, and acquired by Electronic Arts in 1997. Maxis is ...
based here until March 2015.
*Gracenote
Gracenote, Inc. is a company and service that provides music, video, and sports metadata and automatic content recognition (ACR) technologies to entertainment services and companies worldwide. Formerly CDDB ("Compact Disc Data Base"), Gracenote ...
, owned by Nielsen Holdings, maintains and licenses an Internet-accessible database containing information about the contents of audio compact discs.
* Grocery Outlet, a discount supermarket
A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. Strictly speaking, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selecti ...
chain.
*Innovative Interfaces, Inc
Innovative Interfaces, Inc. (abbreviated III and called "Innovative" or "Triple I" in the industry) is a software company specializing in integrated systems for library management. Their key products include Sierra, Polaris, Millennium, and Vir ...
, a supplier of integrated library system
An integrated library system (ILS), also known as a library management system (LMS),
is an enterprise resource planning system for a library, used to track items owned, orders made, bills paid, and patrons who have borrowed.
An ILS is usually ...
software.
* Kodak Gallery (formerly Ofoto.com), an Internet digital photo service whose products include photo prints and gifts.
* LeapFrog, an educational toy company best known for its LeapPad, a paper-based electronic reading toy.
* Match Analysis, the maker of the leading video and statistical analysis system for professional soccer.
* Peet's Coffee, specialty coffee roaster and retailer.
*Pixar Animation Studios
Pixar (), doing business as Pixar Animation Studios, is an American animation studio based in Emeryville, California, known for its critically and commercially successful computer-animated feature films. Pixar is a subsidiary of Walt Disney S ...
, a major animation and computer graphics
Computer graphics deals with generating images and art with the aid of computers. Computer graphics is a core technology in digital photography, film, video games, digital art, cell phone and computer displays, and many specialized applications. ...
firm known for award-winning shorts, and feature films. Bought by The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...
in 2006.
* SeeqPod, a search and recommendation web site.
*ZipRealty
ZipRealty was a website that offers real estate listings and homes for sale as part of Realogy’s company-owned brokerage operations, NRT LLC. Ziprealty.com is maintained by ZapLabs LLC, the innovation and technology development division of Rea ...
, an internet-based realty company.
Retail centers
As part of an urban renewal
Urban renewal (sometimes called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address real or perceived urban decay. Urban renewal involves the clearing ...
project, several shopping centers opened in the late 1990s next to the intersection of Interstate highways 80 and 580, capitalizing on Emeryville's access to San Francisco as well as to East Bay customers. A new retail and residential development named Bay Street Emeryville now sits along Highway 80 and is home to many stores and restaurants.
Top employers
According to the city's 2022 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:
Transportation
The Emeryville Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
station was completed in 1994 and serves four intercity rail lines:
* ''California Zephyr
The ''California Zephyr'' is a Amtrak Long Distance, long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago, Illinois, Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area (at Emeryville station, Emeryville), via Omaha, Nebraska, Omaha, Denver, Sa ...
'', as the western terminus of interstate service to Chicago
* ''Capitol Corridor
The ''Capitol Corridor'' is a passenger train route in Northern California operated by Amtrak between San Jose, California, San Jose, in the Bay Area, and Auburn, California, Auburn, in the Sacramento Valley. The route is named after the two ...
'', which is an intrastate commuter rail train between San Jose and Auburn via Sacramento[
* '']Coast Starlight
The ''Coast Starlight'' is a Amtrak Long Distance, long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak on the West Coast of the United States between Seattle and Los Angeles via Portland, Oregon, Portland and the San Francisco Bay Area. The train, ...
'', which offers interstate service between Seattle and Los Angeles
* '' San Joaquins'', an intrastate train between Sacramento and Bakersfield; Emeryville is on the branch to Oakland via Stockton
Emeryville is the primary San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...
station/stop for the two interstate lines, serving approximately 500,000 passengers annually; it replaced a station in West Oakland that was damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake
On October 17, 1989, at 5:04 p.m. Pacific Time Zone, PST, the Loma Prieta earthquake occurred at the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California. The shock was centered in The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park in Santa Cruz Cou ...
[ and was designed by Heller Manus Architects. Amtrak does not provide direct rail service to any city on the San Francisco Peninsula, including San Francisco. ]San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
passengers use a bus connector to Emeryville station, routed over the Bay Bridge, with a stop near the Salesforce Transit Center.
Bay Area Rapid Transit
Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. BART serves 50 stations along six routes and of track, including eBART, a spur line running to Antioch, and Oakland Airport Connecto ...
(BART) is a commuter/metro heavy rail system which connects San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose in the greater Bay Area. The closest BART station is MacArthur station in Oakland, approximately east of the Amtrak station. Although Richmond station, approximately north of Emeryville, and Oakland Coliseum station, approximately south, both provide direct connections between Amtrak and BART, these stops are served only by ''Capitol Corridor'' commuter rail trains.
Public transit bus service for Emeryville is provided by AC Transit
AC Transit is the main Public transport bus service, bus transit operator in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, California. AC Transit is the third largest bus operator in California, serving the western portions of Alameda and C ...
, which covers the East Bay
The East Bay is the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area and includes cities along the eastern shores of San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. The region has grown to include inland communities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Wi ...
counties of Alameda and Contra Costa. To supplement the local bus service, the city operates a free shuttle service called Emery Go Round with 15 minute headway
Headway is the distance or duration between vehicles in a transit system. The ''minimum headway'' is the shortest such distance or time achievable by a system without a reduction in the speed of vehicles. The precise definition varies depending on ...
s on weekdays; it serves MacArthur BART, the Amtrak station, the Bay Street shops, the Watergate condominium complex and nearby marina, and other locations throughout the city and into Berkeley.
Freeway access to Emeryville is provided by a key section of Interstate 80
Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one of the ori ...
, just north of where that freeway meets Interstate 880 and Interstate 580 in a major interchange known as the MacArthur Maze.
Emeryville also maintains a small marina
A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : "related to the sea") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats.
A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo ...
with limited services. There is a standing citizen Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee.
In popular culture
*Pixar produced the movie ''The Incredibles
''The Incredibles'' is a 2004 American animated superhero film written and directed by Brad Bird. Produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures, the film stars the voices of Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Spencer ...
'', which shows a part of Emeryville near their headquarters, in a map on the dashboard of the hero's car. Their film ''Cars
A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...
'' (2006) briefly shows a "Welcome to Emeryville" sign. Pixar's Luca
Luca or LUCA may refer to:
People
* Luca (masculine given name), including a list of people
* Luca (feminine given name), including a list of people
* Luca (surname), including a list of people
Places
* The ancient name of Lucca, an Etruscan ...
shows Emeryville's zip code for a few seconds being used as a number for a train.
*Emeryville is often referenced in the NBC dramedy series '' Parenthood'', as the home of Sarah Braverman, the second oldest of the four siblings.
*The city of Emeryville is a mecha training grounds in the '' Mecha Samurai Empire'' series by Peter Tieryas and is featured prominently as the site of the yearly mecha combat between the Berkeley Military cadets.
Notable people
Emeryville residents, past and present, include:
* Kofi S. Bonner, architect
* Draymond Green
Draymond Jamal Green (born March 4, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Green, who plays primarily at the Power forward (basketball), power forward pos ...
, professional basketball player
* Dianne Martinez, First Filipino American
Filipino Americans () are Americans of Filipino ancestry. Filipinos in North America were first documented in the 16th century and other small settlements beginning in the 18th century. Mass migration did not begin until after the end of the Sp ...
city council member and mayor
* Lateefah Simon, U.S. representative
See also
Notes
References
* C. Michael Hogan, Michael J. Johnson et al., '' Environmental Impact Report for the Eastshore Center Development in the Redevelopment Project Area of the City of Emeryville'', prepared for the city of Emeryville by Earth Metrics Inc., Burlingame, Calif., July 1986.
* ''Emeryville General Plan, volumes I and II'' (1979).
* ''Final Environmental Impact Report, Bay Center Development'', prepared by the city of Emeryville (1985).
*
External links
*
{{authority control
Cities in Alameda County, California
Cities in the San Francisco Bay Area
Incorporated cities and towns in California
Populated places established in 1896
Populated coastal places in California
1896 establishments in California