Internet Marketing Services
5.0 Rating on GoogleHow to read the table
The first question is crowding: how many locations there are for the number of residents. Alameda County is much bigger than most counties, so raw counts mislead. The table converts each count to locations per 10,000 residents and compares it with the typical county of 20,000 or more residents. The second is size: how many locations have fewer than ten staff and how many have twenty or more, which shows whether you are competing against small shops or a few big employers. The third is change since 2017: whether the count is climbing, flat or shrinking.
These are employer locations, so sole proprietors and gig workers are not counted, which makes the numbers more reliable for dentists, restaurants and larger contractors than for the smallest trades. They are survey years, not live counts, and they are a starting point for questions, not a verdict on any one business.
The fifteen trades
| Trade | Employer locations | Per 10,000 residents | Compared with the typical county | Under 10 staff | 20 or more staff | Change since 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residential remodelers | 744 | 4.6 | 1.5 times | 88 of 100 | 39 | +11.4 percent |
| Roofing contractors | 131 | 0.8 | 1 times | 67 of 100 | 23 | +17 percent |
| Electrical contractors | 364 | 2.2 | 1 times | 73 of 100 | 62 | +8 percent |
| Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors | 377 | 2.3 | 0.7 times | 68 of 100 | 74 | +4.7 percent |
| Insurance agencies and brokerages | 416 | 2.6 | 0.7 times | 92 of 100 | 18 | -7.3 percent |
| Real estate agents and brokers | 824 | 5.1 | 1.8 times | 96 of 100 | 4 | +40.6 percent |
| Law offices | 709 | 4.4 | 1.5 times | 85 of 100 | 38 | -5.5 percent |
| Accounting and CPA firms | 206 | 1.3 | 0.9 times | 87 of 100 | 3 | +3.5 percent |
| Janitorial services | 277 | 1.7 | 1 times | 73 of 100 | 43 | +28.2 percent |
| Landscaping services | 307 | 1.9 | 0.6 times | 75 of 100 | 52 | +11.6 percent |
| Physicians offices | 747 | 4.6 | 1.1 times | 78 of 100 | 79 | -12.5 percent |
| Dentists | 970 | 6 | 2.1 times | 79 of 100 | 29 | -1.7 percent |
| Full-service restaurants | 1,576 | 9.7 | 1.4 times | 51 of 100 | 372 | -1 percent |
| General automotive repair | 415 | 2.6 | 1 times | 92 of 100 | 6 | -8.2 percent |
| Beauty salons | 419 | 2.6 | 1.4 times | 92 of 100 | 9 | +6.3 percent |
County Business Patterns, 2022 against 2017. Only employer locations are counted, so people who work alone are left out. The comparison point is the middle county among those with at least 20,000 residents.
Four positions a trade can hold
Dentists (2.1 times, 970 locations), real estate agents and brokers (1.8 times), law offices (1.5 times), residential remodelers (1.5 times) and restaurants (1.4 times). Expect many Alameda County businesses in the same search results, and a premium on reviews and a clear specialty.
Landscaping (0.6 times), insurance agencies (0.7 times) and plumbing, heating and air-conditioning (0.7 times). Room to be found in Alameda County, though in a high-cost county a low count can also mean fewer small shops.
Real estate agents and brokers (up 40.6 percent), janitorial services (up 28.2 percent), roofing (up 17 percent), landscaping (up 11.6 percent) and remodelers (up 11.4 percent). More entrants usually means more competition for the same Maps listings.
Physician offices (down 12.5 percent), general auto repair (down 8.2 percent), insurance agencies (down 7.3 percent) and law offices (down 5.5 percent). Fewer locations can mean consolidation, so it is a reason to look closely, not a conclusion.
The size of the businesses
Restaurants and physician offices have the most locations with twenty or more staff, at 372 and 79. Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning has 74 such locations, electrical 62 and landscaping 52. In those trades a mid-sized competitor may be running paid search and a polished site. By contrast, 96 of every 100 real estate locations, 92 of every 100 insurance locations and 92 of every 100 auto repair locations have fewer than ten staff, so most rivals are small, and an owner who invests in reviews and a good Business Profile can stand out.
In practical terms, a small auto repair shop in San Leandro is judged mostly against neighbors with similar resources, while a mid-sized electrical contractor in Hayward may meet competitors that spend on ads. Our plans, from SEO services to PPC management, are chosen around that picture.
What sits behind the trades
Every figure in the table is a county total, and the county is not uniform. Oakland carries the port, the airport and the downtown courts and offices. Berkeley carries a campus of 45,882 students and a national laboratory. Fremont is the largest city by area and spreads its businesses across districts. The Tri-Valley cities hold business parks and a second national laboratory, and the unincorporated communities of Castro Valley and San Lorenzo are served by the county directly. A trade that looks thin in the county count may be crowded in one city and nearly absent in another.
The employment mix explains part of that. Professional, scientific and technical services lead the county with 16.7 percent of resident workers, followed by health care with 12.8 percent and manufacturing with 9.7 percent. The port moved about 2.07 million containers in 2023, so freight, repair and industrial supply businesses have a customer base that the Census trade list does not show at all. Use this page to size your own trade, then use your own city's search results to see the actual contest.
Building
| Year | New homes authorized |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 5,025 |
| 2022 | 5,076 |
| 2023 | 2,884 |
| 2024 | 1,743 |
| 2025 | 2,778 |
Census Building Permits Survey, new privately owned housing units authorized by permit.
What the permits suggest
With population down 3.6 percent between the 2020 base and the 2023 estimate, and with new homes far fewer after 2022 than before, Alameda County is not adding homes quickly. Median home value is $999,200 and median rent $2,229, which gives owners and landlords reason to maintain and upgrade the homes they already have. That is likely to help remodelers, roofers, electricians and plumbers more than suppliers of new construction.
It also means competition within trades grows by entrants rather than by new customers, which is one reason to focus on reviews, on a clear Business Profile and on pages for the specific services and cities where you want work in Alameda County. The permit counts are authorizations, not completions, and one year of lower counts is not a forecast.
Where to begin
| Kind of trade | In this county | What we would start with |
|---|---|---|
| Home trades | Remodelers, roofers, electricians, plumbers, landscapers | City and service pages for three or four East Bay cities, a complete Business Profile with service areas, and a steady flow of reviews. |
| Professional offices | Law, accounting, insurance, real estate | Specialty pages for the one or two practice areas you want, plus reviews, citations and profile work, because the field is crowded. |
| Health and dental | Dentists, physician offices | Location pages, clear service lists, insurance and language information, and reviews, which patients read closely. |
| Food and personal services | Restaurants, beauty salons | Maps visibility and photos, up-to-date hours and a page that matches how people search for the neighborhood. |
| Cleaning and facilities | Janitorial services | A business-to-business focus on office and industrial areas, with pages for the cities where those buildings are. |
Questions
No. The trade analysis for Alameda County is folded into the strategy for any plan. RankGuarantee™ landing pages are $495 a month, Organic Growth is Silver $1,495, Gold $2,495 and Platinum $3,495, and paid ads management is $895, $1,595 or $2,295 for one, two or three platforms. No setup fee, no contract, ad spend extra.
Yes, though for businesses in Alameda County the work has to be sharper: a clear specialty, strong reviews and pages for cities and services where you can win. A crowded field is also a field with demand, and clear pages help in AI search answers as well as Google. Paid search with Google Ads can fill the gap while organic work builds.
They are County Business Patterns counts for Alameda County, California, for 2022 compared with 2017, the latest we use. They are useful for direction, not for a live head count, and they leave out people who work for themselves with no employees.
Not by itself. In Alameda County, real estate agents and brokers, janitorial services and roofing grew most since 2017, but growth also adds competitors. Think about whether you have an edge in the services and cities you would target across the East Bay.
Dentists show the highest crowding in the table, and physician offices show the largest fall in locations since 2017. For both, patients compare reviews, location and insurance acceptance before they call, so profile work, a page for each location and a clear list of services and accepted plans matter most.
Permits show how many homes are being added, and they hint at demand for remodeling, installation and landscaping. In Alameda County the numbers fell after 2022 and began to recover in 2025, so work on existing homes looks steadier than new-build work. Treat it as a direction, not a forecast.
Yes. The Alameda County table is a starting point, and we can look at the city level with search and Business Profile data to see who competes in Fremont, Hayward or Livermore specifically, and how strong those competitors look in the map results for your services.
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Get in Touch
Tell us your trade and the cities you serve, and we will compare your market with the numbers and suggest what to do first. Call 610-825-4363 or email hello@getphound.com.