Stockton, in California, already has the guaranteed income programme in place and early analysis of the first year of the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration (SEED) showed a range of benefits to people's health and wellbeing.
According to the analysis, people who received these regular payments experienced less income volatility, secured more full-time employment, reported feeling like better parents and partners, and even saw their health and overall wellbeing improving.
"We have designed this demonstration project to add to the body of evidence, and to begin this relentless campaign to adopt a guaranteed income federally," Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said.
The Oakland programme has raised $6.75 million from private donations so far.
To be eligible for the guaranteed $500 per month, individuals must have at least one child under the age of 18 and an income below 50 per cent of the area's median income (around $59,000 per annum for a family of three).
Oakland's version of the guaranteed income programme is targeting up to 600 local families, making it one of the largest of this type of programme in the US so far.
It is also the first of these programmes aimed strictly at black, indigenous and people of colour.
According to the Oakland Equity Index, white families in Oakland make around three times more than black households annually.
However, some have opposed the decision to block white families from qualifying for the programme, branding the mayor as "racist" over her decision.
Previous basic income programmes such as this one have previously existed in the US and have found that receiving the money does not stop people from looking for work and they experienced overall improved quality of life.
In Stockton, after one year on the SEED programme, 40 per cent of recipients had full-time jobs. Prior to joining the programme, that number was down to 28 per cent.
