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.

A relatively large number of people in Orinda telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 29.61% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. 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", which are people who are not only wealthy and employed in professional occupations, but highly educated to boot. Urban sophisticates have urbane tastes - whether they reside in a big or small city, a suburb, or a little town. Urban sophisticates support bookstores, quality clothing stores, enjoy luxury travel, and in big cities, they are truly the patrons of the arts, attending and supporting institutions such as opera, symphony, ballet, and theatre.

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.

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

Foreign born people are also an important part of Orinda's cultural character, accounting for 18.30% of the city’s population.

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