Albany is a medium-sized coastal city (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of California. With a population of 19,415 people and eight associated neighborhoods, Albany is the 316th largest community in California. Much of the housing stock in Albany was built prior to World War II, making it one of the older and more historic cities in the country.

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

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

And if you like science, one thing you'll find is that Albany 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.

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

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 31.43% 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.

Albany, while not large, also appears to be attractive to some younger, educated professionals, who help shape the character of the city.

Albany is also nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Quite often, nautical areas such as these attract visitors and locals who come to enjoy the scenery and various waterfront activities.

In Albany, however, the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 31.74 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. In addition, the city is also quite pedestrian-friendly, because many neighborhoods are very dense and have amenities close enough together that people find it feasible to get around on foot.

Even though Albany is a smaller city, it has many people who hop on public transportation – mostly the bus for their daily commute to work. Typically, these people are commuting to good jobs in the surrounding cities.

Do you have a 4-year college degree or graduate degree? If so, you may feel right at home in Albany. 75.20% of adults here have a 4-year degree or graduate degree, whereas the national average for all cities and towns is just 21.84%.

The per capita income in Albany in 2022 was $65,976, which is wealthy relative to California and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $263,904 for a family of four. However, Albany contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Albany is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Albany home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Albany residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Albany also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 11.82% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Albany include English, German, Irish, Italian, and European.

Albany also has a high percentage of its population that was born in another country: 27.05%.

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