The East Bay is the eastern region of the
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 ...
and includes cities along the eastern shores 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 ...
and
San Pablo Bay. The region has grown to include inland communities in
Alameda and
Contra Costa counties. With a population of roughly 2.8 million in 2024, it is the most populous subregion in the Bay Area, containing the second- and third-most populous Bay Area counties of Alameda (1.7 million) and Contra Costa (1.1 million).
Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay by population and the third largest in the Bay Area. The city serves as a major transportation hub for the
U.S. West Coast, and its
port
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...
is the largest in
Northern California
Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...
. Increased population has led to the growth of large
edge cities such as
Alameda,
Concord,
Emeryville,
Fremont,
Hayward,
Livermore,
Pleasanton,
San Ramon, and
Walnut Creek.
History and development
Although initial development in the greater Bay Area focused on
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 ...
, the coastal East Bay came to prominence in the middle of the 19th century as the part of the Bay Area most accessible by land from the east. The
transcontinental railroad
A transcontinental railroad or transcontinental railway is contiguous rail transport, railroad trackage that crosses a continent, continental land mass and has terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks may be via the Ra ...
was completed in 1869 with its western terminus at the newly constructed
Oakland Long Wharf, and the new city of
Oakland rapidly developed into a significant seaport. Today the
Port of Oakland is the Bay Area's largest port and the fifth largest
container shipping port in the United States.
In 1868, the
University of California
The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...
was formed from the private
College of California and a new campus was built in what would become Berkeley. The
1906 San Francisco earthquake
At 05:12 AM Pacific Time Zone, Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated Moment magnitude scale, moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli inte ...
saw a large number of refugees flee to the relatively undamaged East Bay, and the region continued to grow rapidly. As the East Bay grew, the push to connect it with a more permanent link than ferry service resulted in the completion of the
San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge in 1936.
The Bay Area saw further growth in the decades following World War II, with the population doubling between 1940 and 1960, and doubling again by 2000. The 1937 completion of the
Caldecott Tunnel through the
Berkeley Hills fueled growth further east, where there was undeveloped land. Cities in the Diablo Valley, including
Concord and
Walnut Creek, saw their populations increase tenfold or more between 1950 and 1970. The addition of the
BART
Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. BART serves List of Bay Area Rapid Transit stations, 50 stations along six routes and of track, including eBART, a spur line running t ...
commuter rail system in 1972 further encouraged development in increasingly far-flung regions of the East Bay. Today, the valleys east of the
Berkeley Hills contain large affluent suburban communities such as Walnut Creek,
San Ramon and
Pleasanton.
The East Bay is not a formally defined region, aside from its being described as a region inclusive of Alameda and Contra Costa counties. As development moves generally eastward, new areas are described as being part of the East Bay. In 1996,
BART
Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. BART serves List of Bay Area Rapid Transit stations, 50 stations along six routes and of track, including eBART, a spur line running t ...
was extended from its terminus in Concord to a new station in
Pittsburg, symbolically incorporating the newly expanded Delta communities of Pittsburg and
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes (; , ) "Antioch on Daphne"; or "Antioch the Great"; ; ; ; ; ; ; . was a Hellenistic Greek city founded by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 BC. One of the most important Greek cities of the Hellenistic period, it served as ...
as extended regions of the East Bay.
Beyond the borders of Alameda County, the large population of
Tracy is connected as a
bedroom community
A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...
housing commuters traveling to or through the East Bay.
Cities
Except for some hills and ridges which exist as parklands or undeveloped land, and some farmland in eastern Contra Costa and Alameda Counties, the East Bay is highly urbanized. The East Bay shoreline is an urban corridor with several cities exceeding 100,000 residents, including the cities of
Oakland,
Hayward,
Fremont,
Richmond, and
Berkeley. In the inland valleys on the east side of the Berkeley Hills, the land is mostly developed, particularly on the eastern fringe of Contra Costa county and the
Tri-Valley area. In the inland valleys, the population density is less and the cities smaller. Cities exceeding 100,000 residents in the inland valleys include
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes (; , ) "Antioch on Daphne"; or "Antioch the Great"; ; ; ; ; ; ; . was a Hellenistic Greek city founded by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 BC. One of the most important Greek cities of the Hellenistic period, it served as ...
and
Concord.
East Bay cities include:
*
Acalanes Ridge[Unincorporated Community]
*
Alameda
*
Alamo
*
Albany
*
Alhambra Valley
*
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes (; , ) "Antioch on Daphne"; or "Antioch the Great"; ; ; ; ; ; ; . was a Hellenistic Greek city founded by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 BC. One of the most important Greek cities of the Hellenistic period, it served as ...
*
Ashland
*
Bay Point
*
Bayview
*
Berkeley
*
Bethel Island
*
Blackhawk
*
Brentwood
*
Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...
*
Camino Tassajara
*
Canyon
A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency t ...
*
Castle Hill
*
Castro Valley
*
Cherryland
*
Clayton
*
Clyde
*
Concord
*
Contra Costa Centre
*
Crockett
*
Danville
*
Diablo
*
Discovery Bay
*
Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
*
East Richmond Heights
*
El Cerrito
*
El Sobrante
*
Emeryville
*
Fairview
*
Fremont
*
Hayward
*
Hercules
Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures.
The Romans adapted the Gr ...
*
Kensington
Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London.
The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...
*
Knightsen
*
Lafayette
*
Livermore
*
Martinez
*
Montalvin Manor
*
Moraga
*
Newark
*
Norris Canyon
*
North Gate
*
North Richmond
*
Oakland
*
Oakley
*
Orinda
*
Pacheco
*
Piedmont
Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...
*
Pittsburg
*
Pinole
*
Pleasant Hill
*
Pleasanton
*
Port Costa
*
Reliez Valley
*
Richmond
*
Rodeo
Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqu ...
*
Rollingwood
*
San Leandro
*
San Lorenzo
*
San Miguel
*
San Pablo
*
San Ramon
*
Saranap
*
Shell Ridge
*
Sunol
*
Tara Hills
*
Union City
*
Vine Hill
*
Walnut Creek
Culture
The East Bay has a free weekly newspaper, the ''
East Bay Express'', which has reported on the culture and politics of the East Bay for over 30 years, and has influenced the identification of the East Bay as a culturally defined region of the Bay Area. ''The East Bay Monthly'', another free newspaper, has been published since 1970. In the early years of the evolution of ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...
'', during the early 1980s, they operated regional newspapers, with the region's paper entitled ''
East Bay Today''.
The
Solano Avenue Stroll, the oldest and largest
street festival
A street fair celebrates the character of a neighborhood. As its name suggests, it is typically held on the main street of a neighborhood.
The principal component of street fairs are booths used to sell goods (particularly food) or convey informa ...
in the greater San Francisco Bay Area, is held every September on the
Solano Avenue shopping district in Albany and Berkeley.
The East Bay is the birthplace of many musical acts, including
Creedence Clearwater Revival,
Country Joe and the Fish.
Counting Crows,
Yesterday and Today,
Digital Underground
Digital Underground is an American alternative hip hop group from Oakland, California. Its lineup grows with each album and tour.
Digital Underground's leader and mainstay was Gregory "Shock G" Jacobs (also known as Humpty Hump). Shock G forme ...
,
Green Day
Green Day is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Rodeo, California, in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong and bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, with drummer Tré Cool joining in 1990. In 1994, their majo ...
,
Operation Ivy,
Primus,
Rancid,
Set Your Goals,
Tower of Power
Tower of Power is an American R&B and funk based band and horn section, originating in Oakland, California, that has been performing since 1968. The band has had a number of lead vocalists, the best-known being Lenny Williams, who fronted ...
(whose debut album is titled ''
East Bay Grease''),
The Pointer Sisters
The Pointer Sisters are an American female vocal group from Oakland, California, who achieved mainstream success during the 1970s and 1980s. They have had a repertoire with many genres, they have sold around 50 million records throughout their ...
,
MC Hammer
Stanley Kirk Burrell (born March 30, 1962), better known by his stage name MC Hammer (or simply Hammer), is an American rapper known for hit songs such as "U Can't Touch This", "2 Legit 2 Quit", and "Pumps and a Bump", flashy dance movements, e ...
,
Tony! Toni! Toné!,
Tupac Shakur
Tupac Amaru Shakur (; born Lesane Parish Crooks; June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor, regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all tim ...
,
Too Short
Todd Anthony Shaw (born April 28, 1966), better known by his stage name Too Short (stylized as Too $hort), is an American rapper. A pioneer of West Coast hip-hop, Shaw was among the first acts to receive recognition in the genre during the late ...
,
Spice 1,
en Vogue,
Pete Escovedo and Sheila E,
Keyshia Cole
Keyshia Myeshia Cole (née Johnson; born October 15, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, television personality and actress. Dubbed by critics as the " Princess of Hip-Hop Soul", she is known for her soulful voice and heartfelt lyrics. Bor ...
, and
Mac Dre
Andre Louis Hicks (July 5, 1970 – November 1, 2004), known artistically as Mac Dre, was an American rapper, record producer and songwriter from Vallejo, California. He was an instrumental figure in the emergence of hyphy, a cultural movement ...
. The region is a major center for the development of
rock,
folk,
funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...
,
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
,
hip hop
Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...
,
soul
The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...
and
women's music.
Bay Area thrash metal has centered strongly on the East Bay, including the bands
Exodus and
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...
, among others.
Possessed and
Death
Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...
, both considered the first
death metal
Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...
bands,
[ Possessed band page, Eduardo Rivadavia, Allmusic "The brutal ''Seven Churches'' was arguably the first true death metal album and set the stage for the genre's breakaway from thrash."][ Allmusic.comDeath Biography] have roots or connections in the East Bay: Possessed formed in
El Sobrante, with Death debuting nationally while in
Concord.
Major music (and sports) venues include the
Oakland Arena; adjacent
Oakland Coliseum; the
Oakland Paramount Theater, venue for the
Oakland East Bay Symphony; the
Fox Oakland Theatre, the
UC Berkeley Greek Theater, the nonprofit
The Freight and Salvage, and the
Concord Pavilion (formerly Sleep Train Pavilion).
Major museums include the
Oakland Museum of California
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, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...
, the
Lawrence Hall of Science and the
Chabot Space and Science Center.
The
East Bay Regional Parks District operates over fifty parks, many consisting of significant acreage of wildlands, in the East Bay, many directly adjacent to urban centers.
Tilden Regional Park, is one of the largest regional parks () located directly adjacent to the urban center of Berkeley.
Briones Regional Park, at 5,000 acres, is another large wildlands park near an urban center, Walnut Creek.
The East Bay also has a rich political history. One of the revolutionary movements founded in Oakland was the
Black Panther Party
The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist and Black Power movement, black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newto ...
.
The East Bay is home to many of the restaurants central to the creation of
California cuisine, including
Chez Panisse.
Transportation
All vehicular crossings of the San Francisco Bay land in the counties comprising the East Bay.
Interstate highway
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, or the Eisenhower Interstate System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Hi ...
s in the East Bay include
Interstates 80,
580,
680
__NOTOC__
Year 680 ( DCLXXX) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 680 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe f ...
,
880,
980
Year 980 ( CMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place Europe
* Peace is concluded between Emperor Otto II (the Red) and King Lothair III (or Lothair IV) at Margut, ending the Franco-Germa ...
, and
238.
California State Routes 24,
4,
13,
92,
160,
242,
84, and
Richmond Parkway are limited access highways for at least part of their lengths in the area.
State Route 61,
State Route 84,
State Route 123,
State Route 185, and
State Route 238 are major surface streets that receive state funding for maintenance.
San Pablo Avenue previously carried
U.S. Route 40 until the terminus was moved progressively east to
Utah
Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...
.
AC Transit is the major bus transit agency for the region, and provides bus service throughout Alameda and Contra Costa counties, hence the "AC" moniker.
County Connection,
WestCAT,
WHEELS,
Tri Delta Transit and
Union City Transit also provide bus service in the East Bay.
Ferry
A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...
service is provided by
San Francisco Bay Ferry from
Jack London Square and Alameda Harbor, with service at
Richmond Ferry Terminal slated to begin in 2018.
Hercules
Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures.
The Romans adapted the Gr ...
may also see future ferry service to San Francisco.
Bicycle transportation is strongly promoted by city and county agencies, and by organizations like the
East Bay Bicycle Coalition.
Major pedestrian paths across the region include the
San Francisco Bay Trail, the
Bay Area Ridge Trail, the
Ohlone Greenway,
Iron Horse Regional Trail,
Contra Costa Canal Trail, and the
Richmond Greenway.
Rail
Rail service in the East Bay dates to the
First transcontinental railroad
America's first transcontinental railroad (known originally as the "Pacific Railroad" and later as the "Overland Route (Union Pacific Railroad), Overland Route") was a continuous railroad line built between 1863 and 1869 that connected the exis ...
, when the
Western Pacific Railroad
The Western Pacific Railroad was a Class I railroad in the United States. It was formed in 1903 as an attempt to break the near-monopoly the Southern Pacific Railroad had on rail service into northern California. WP's Feather River Route dire ...
was contracted by the
Central Pacific Railroad to provide the link between the Bay and
Sacramento
Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...
. This railroad eventually became the
Niles Canyon Railway. Service to Alameda commenced in September 1869, four months after driving the
golden spike at Promintory, Utah.
Oakland Long Wharf eventually became the western terminus before ferry service to San Francisco. This road provided the sole link to the rest of the country until about 1879 when a more direct route across the Carquinez Strait was completed. Today,
Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) operates
commuter rail
Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...
services through Niles Canyon to San Jose.
Streetcar service across the East Bay was historically provided by the
Key System, incorporated in 1902 as the San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose Railway. An amalgamation of several
streetcar
A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include s ...
companies established in the late part of the century, the Key System provided interurban routes across Alameda county, with connections to San Francisco ferries via their private Key System Pier.
Southern Pacific ran a competing system, East Bay Electric Lines, until they, too, had the Key System take over operations. When the
San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge opened in 1936, Key System cars could make the trip directly to the
Transbay Terminal across the lower deck. Streetcars were replaced with busses in 1948 and transbay service halted in 1958. The system's assets were sold to the newly formed AC Transit in 1960.
The East Bay's modern rail transit service is
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 ...
, or BART, which was primarily designed to deliver commuters to San Francisco via the
Transbay Tube
The Transbay Tube is an underwater rail tunnel that carries Bay Area Rapid Transit's four transbay lines under San Francisco Bay between the cities of San Francisco and Oakland, California, Oakland in California. The tube is long, and attaches ...
, and to a lesser extent Oakland and Berkeley.
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 ...
'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 ...
'' terminates in
Emeryville, providing connections as far as
Chicago
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 ...
, and further stations across the East Bay are served by
Amtrak California's ''
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, ...
'' and ''
San Joaquin''.
Economy
The East Bay has a mixed economy of services, manufacturing, and small and large businesses. The region is headquarters to a number of highly notable businesses, including
Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente (; KP) is an American integrated delivery system, integrated managed care consortium headquartered in Oakland, California. Founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney Garfield, Sidney R. Garfield, the ...
,
Chevron, and
Safeway, among others. The East Bay Economic Development Alliance was founded by Alameda County as the Economic Development Advisory Board in 1990 as a public/private partnership with the mission to promote the East Bay as an important region for development, with Contra Costa County joining in 1996, and the current name chosen in 2006.
Major employers
The East Bay, as a part of the greater Bay Area, is a highly developed region, and is a major center for new and established economic ventures. Along with the county governments of Alameda and Contra Costa, the largest employers are:
:#
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 ...
with approximately 20,000 employees
:#
AT&T
AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...
with approximately 11,000 employees
:# The
U.S. Postal Service
The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...
with approximately 10,000 employees
:#
Tesla with approximately 10,000 employees
:#
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center in Livermore, California, United States. Originally established in 1952, the laboratory now i ...
with approximately 8,750 employees
:#
Chevron Corp. (world headquarters in
San Ramon) with 8,730 employees
:#
Safeway (world headquarters in
Pleasanton) with 7,922 employees
:#
Bank of America
The Bank of America Corporation (Bank of America) (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in ...
with 7,081 employees
:#
PG&E with approximately 5,200 employees
:#
Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente (; KP) is an American integrated delivery system, integrated managed care consortium headquartered in Oakland, California. Founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney Garfield, Sidney R. Garfield, the ...
(US headquarters in
Oakland) with 4,730 employees
:#
Lucky Stores with 4,631 employees
:#
Bio-Rad Laboratories with 4,300 employees
:#
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with a significant global presence. The company operates in 35 countries and serves over 70 million customers worldwide. It is a systemically important fi ...
with about 4,000 employees
:#
Workday (world headquarters in
Pleasanton) with 3,865 employees
:#
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL, Berkeley Lab) is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center in the Berkeley Hills, hills of Berkeley, California, United States. Established i ...
with 3,816 employees
:#
Mount Diablo Unified School District
Mount Diablo Unified School District (MDUSD) is a public school district in Contra Costa County, California. It currently operates 29 elementary schools, 9 middle schools, and 5 high schools, with 7 alternative school
An alternative schoo ...
with 3,700 employees
:#
West Contra Costa Unified School District
The West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD; formerly known as Richmond School District) is the school district for western Contra Costa County, California. It is based in Richmond, California. In addition to Richmond, the district ...
with 3,360 employees
:#
Alta Bates Summit Medical Center with 3,100 employees
:#
John Muir Medical Center with 3,023 employees
:#
Sandia National Laboratories with 1,670 employees
:#
Oracle
An oracle is a person or thing considered to provide insight, wise counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. If done through occultic means, it is a form of divination.
Descript ...
with 1,500 employees
:#
Western Digital
Western Digital Corporation is an American data storage company headquartered in San Jose, California. Established in 1970, the company is one of the world's largest manufacturers of hard disk drives (HDDs).
History
1970s
Western Digital ...
with 1,300 employees
:#
Seagate with 1,050 employees
Other major companies with headquarters in the East Bay include
10x Genomics,
24 Hour Fitness,
Alibris,
ANG Newspapers,
Clif Bar,
Clorox
The Clorox Company (formerly Clorox Chemical Company) is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of consumer and professional products. As of 2024, the Oakland, California-based company had approximately 8,000 employees worldwide. N ...
,
Columbus Salame,
Dreyer's,
Ellie Mae,
GE Digital,
Ghirardelli Chocolate Company,
Gillig Corporation,
LeapFrog,
Peet's Coffee,
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 ...
,
Ross Stores and
Workday.
Mervyn's headquarters were located in the East Bay until they declared bankruptcy. The
New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc. (NUMMI) automobile manufacturing plant employed about 5,100 employees at its peak.
Tesla, Inc. has taken over part of the NUMMI plant, which is still the only automobile manufacturing plant in California.
Higher education
The East Bay is served by a number of both public and private higher education institutions:
Colleges
*Two-year (
community college
A community college is a type of undergraduate higher education institution, generally leading to an associate degree, certificate, or diploma. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an open enr ...
s)
**
Berkeley City College
Berkeley City College (BCC, formerly Vista Community College) is a public community college in Berkeley, California. It is part of the California Community Colleges System and the Peralta Community College District. Berkeley City College is ...
**
Chabot College
**
College of Alameda
**
Contra Costa College
**
Diablo Valley College
**
Laney College
**
Las Positas College
**
Los Medanos College
**
Merritt College
**
Ohlone College
Universities
*Public
**
California State University, East Bay
California State University, East Bay (Cal State East Bay, CSU East Bay, or CSUEB) is a public university in Hayward, California. The university is part of the California State University system and offers 136 undergraduate and 60 post-baccala ...
(CSU East Bay)
**
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 ...
(UC Berkeley)
*Private
**
California College of the Arts
The California College of the Arts (CCA) is a 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 a second campus in ...
**
Holy Names University (defunct)
**
John F. Kennedy University
**
Life Chiropractic College West
**
Mills College
Mills College at Northeastern University in Oakland, California is part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was relocated to Oakland in ...
at Northeastern University
**
Patten University
**
Saint Mary's College of California
Saint Mary's College of California is a Private college, private Catholic college in Moraga, California, United States. Established in 1863, it is administered by the De La Salle Brothers. The college offers undergraduate and graduate programs w ...
**
Samuel Merritt University
See also
*
East Bay Housing Organizations
*
Transportation in the San Francisco Bay Area
References
{{Authority control
*
Regions of California