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OAKLAND — As Alameda County Superior Court Judge Morris Jacobson decides where to relocate the murder trial against a former BART police officer, he will have a hard time finding another community that mirrors Alameda County, a review of county demographics shows.

No other county mentioned by law professors and legal experts as a possible location for the murder case against Johannes Mehserle can match Alameda County’s percentage of African-American residents, nor do they have a populace as educated, as liberal or as wealthy, statistics compiled by the state Department of Finance and Secretary of State reveal.

Compared with the other counties, Alameda County has the highest proportion of African-American residents (14.5 percent) and registered Democrats (57.8 percent), and the most educated population. Residents here, on average, also earn more money.

Only Solano County, with 15 percent of its population African-American, has a higher proportion of African-American residents in the state than Alameda County. And while residents in several other counties earn more on average than Alameda County’s $43,000-per-capita income, and in some instances are better educated, none that do have been considered viable options for hosting the murder trial.

In making his decision, Jacobson must consider the logistical issue before anything else. A new location must not overburden either the defense’s or prosecution’s ability to bring witnesses

to court, and the site must be able to handle the sideshow that is sure to accompany such a high-profile trial.

At the same time, the trial needs to be moved to a location far enough away to ensure it has not been subjected to the same amount of media saturation as Alameda County. As a result, many said, the nine counties in the Bay Area are probably not an option.

Factors such as the ability to tie up a courtroom for months, provide security and accommodate the media will play major roles in Jacobson’s final decision, experts said.

Legal professors and experts in the field of criminal justice, however, say demographics also should be a deciding factor considering that Mehserle, a white police officer, is accused of killing Oscar Grant III, a young black man who was unarmed.

“Demographics will and absolutely should be considered in this case,” said Jim Hammer, a former San Francisco deputy district attorney. “It will help the public be secure in knowing that it will be a fair trial.”

Of the counties most frequently mentioned as possible hosts, including Sacramento, San Diego, Los Angeles and San Bernardino, Los Angeles is the closest to matching Alameda County’s demographics, the statistics show.

According to statistics, African-Americans constitute a little more than 9 percent of Los Angeles County’s 10.2 million residents. Residents there earn, on average, $42,000 a year and have 13 years of schooling, and 52 percent of registered voters are Democrats.

“It looks like there is no perfect situation,” said John Burris, a civil rights attorney representing Grant’s family in a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit against BART. “It concerns us, but there is nothing we can do about it. “… Once (the trial) left Alameda County, we understood that the demographics in these other counties are different.”

Although it will be impossible for Jacobson to find a county in the state with the same demographic statistics as Alameda County, legal experts said it does not mean Mehserle will have an easier time convincing a jury he did not purposely kill Grant. A juror’s political party affiliation, education and income level do not necessarily dictate how that juror will view evidence presented during a trial, experts say.

And although Mehserle’s defense attorney has argued that African-Americans and white residents in Alameda County have substantially different viewpoints about Mehserle’s guilt in the crime, legal experts say it is dangerous to judge a juror’s viewpoint based on race.

“We are making some assumptions here that are dangerous, that jurors of different races will see this case differently,” said Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. “Even if it has the same racial demographics, a racial group in one place is not going to have the same sensitivities as one in another place.”

Yet, Levenson and others said, it remains important that the demographics in the location eventually chosen to host the trial do not differ dramatically from Alameda County’s. For example, she said, sending the case to Orange or Yolo counties, where African-Americans make up only 1.6 percent of the population, would be considered venue shopping by the defense.

“I just think you need a critical mass,” she said.

Given that Jacobson will not be able to find a county with the same percentage of African-American residents as Alameda County, Burris said he would be happy with a county that has similar diversity and education level.

“You want the education level, and obviously we would like a significant minority population,” Burris said. “Those are the types of things I hope they will look at.”

While Alameda County’s population has one of the highest education levels in the state with an average of 13.9 years of schooling, other counties many consider as options to host the case are not too far behind. Los Angeles County residents have, on average, 13 years of schooling, Sacramento and San Bernardino residents have 12.9 years, and San Diego residents have 13.8 years of schooling.

And though no other county in the state besides Solano can match Alameda County’s percentage of African-American residents, many either match or surpass Alameda County’s percentage of minorities.

For example, white residents make up 35.7 percent of Alameda County’s population, while Los Angeles has 27.5 percent, Fresno 34.7 percent and San Bernardino 35.1 percent.

In Sacramento County, which is also considered a possible location because of its proximity to Alameda County, 49.6 percent of the population is white.

Whatever statistics eventually are used, if any, during a yet-to-be-scheduled hearing to choose a new venue, the debate will be one of the most important in the case, experts said.

“The most important battle has yet to come,” Hammer said. “The fight now as to where it should go is huge.”