Sacramento County () is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

located in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 1,585,055. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

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 ...

, which has been the

state capital Below is an index of pages containing lists of capital city, capital cities. National capitals *List of national capitals *List of national capitals by latitude *List of national capitals by population *List of national capitals by area *List of ...

of California since 1854. Sacramento County is the central county of the

Greater Sacramento The Greater Sacramento area is a metropolitan area, metropolitan region in Northern California comprising either the U.S. Census Bureau defined Sacramento–Roseville–Arden-Arcade metropolitan statistical area or the larger Sacramento–Rosevil ...

metropolitan area. The county covers about in the northern portion of the Central Valley, on into Gold Country. Sacramento County extends from the low delta lands between the

Sacramento River The Sacramento River () is the principal river of Northern California in the United States and is the largest river in California. Rising in the Klamath Mountains, the river flows south for before reaching the Sacramento–San Joaquin River D ...

and San Joaquin River, including Suisun Bay, north to about beyond the State Capitol and east into the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The southernmost portion of Sacramento County has direct access to

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 ...

. Since 2010, statewide droughts in California have further strained Sacramento County's water security.

History

Sacramento County was one of the original counties of California, which were created in 1850 at the time of statehood. The county was named after the

, which forms its western border. The river was named by Spanish

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...

officer

Gabriel Moraga Gabriel Moraga (1765 – June 14, 1823) was a Sonoran-born Californio soldier, administrator, and explorer. As an explorer in Alta California, Gabriel Moraga found and gave names to a number of rivers in the Central Valley. Gabriel's son Joaqu� ...

for the ''Santisimo Sacramento'' (Most Holy Sacrament), referring to the Catholic

Eucharist The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an Ordinance (Christianity), ordinance in ...

. Alexander Hamilton Willard, a member of the

Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gro ...

, is buried in the old Franklin Cemetery.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (3.0%) is water. Most of the county is at an elevation close to sea level, with some areas below sea level. The highest point in the county is Carpenter Hill at , in the southeast part of Folsom. Major watercourses in the county include the

American River The American River is a List of rivers of California, river in California that runs from the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada mountain range to its confluence with the Sacramento River in downtown Sacramento. Via the Sacramento River, it ...

, Cosumnes River, a tributary of the

Mokelumne River The Mokelumne River ( or ; ''Mokelumne'', Miwok for "People of the Fish Net") is a -long river in northern California in the United States. The river flows west from a rugged portion of the central Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada into the C ...

, and Dry Creek, a tributary of the Sacramento River.

Adjacent counties

* Sutter County - northwest * Placer County - north *

El Dorado County El Dorado County (; ''El Dorado'', Spanish language, Spanish for "The Golden ne), officially the County of El Dorado, is a List of counties in California, county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, ...

- northeast * Amador County - east * San Joaquin County - south *

Contra Costa County Contra Costa County (; ''Contra Costa'', Spanish language, Spanish for 'Opposite Coast') is a U.S. county, county located in the U.S. state of California, in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2020 United States census, the ...

- southwest * Solano County - west * Yolo County - west

National protected areas

* Stone Lakes National Wildlife Refuge *

California National Historic Trail The California Trail was an emigrant trail of about across the western half of the North American continent from Missouri River towns to what is now the state of California. After it was established, the first half of the California Trail f ...

* Pony Express National Historic Trail

Demographics

2020 census

2011

Places by population, ethnicity, and income

2010

The 2010 United States census reported that Sacramento County had a population of 1,418,788. The racial makeup of Sacramento County was 815,151 (57.5%)

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 200,228 (15.4%)

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 14,308 (1.0%) Native American, 203,211 (14.3%) Asian, 13,858 (1.0%)

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 131,691 (9.3%) from other races, and 93,511 (6.6%) from two or more races. There were 306,196

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino residents of any race (21.6%).

2000

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,223,499 people, 453,602 households, and 297,562 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 474,814 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 64.0%

, 10.6%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

, 1.09% Native American, 13.5% Asian, 0.6%

, 7.5% from other races, and 5.8% from two or more races. 19.3% of the population were

or Latino of any race. 10.2% were of German, 7.0% English, 6.7% Irish and 5.1% American ancestry according to Census 2000. 75.7% spoke only English at home; 10.0% spoke Spanish, 1.5% Hmong, 1.4% Chinese or

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

, 1.3% Vietnamese, 1.2% Tagalog and 1.2% Russian. There were 453,602 households, out of which 33.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.4% were married couples living together, 14.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.4% were non-families. 26.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.24. In the county, 27.6% of the population was under the age of 18, 9.5% was from 18 to 24, 31.0% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 11.1% was 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.9 males. For every 100 female residents aged 18 and over, there were 92.5 males. The median income for a household in the county was $43,816, and the median income for a family was $50,717. Males had a median income of $39,482 versus $31,569 for females. The per capita income for the county was $21,142. About 10.3% of families and 14.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.2% of those under age 18 and 6.6% of those age 65 or over.

Government and policing

Government

The Government of Sacramento County is defined and authorized under the

California Constitution The Constitution of California () is the primary organizing law for the U.S. state of California, describing the duties, powers, structures and functions of the government of California. California's constitution was drafted in both English ...

California law The law of California consists of several levels, including Constitutional law, constitutional, Statutory law, statutory, and regulatory law, as well as case law. The California Codes form the general statutory law, and most state agency regulat ...

, and the Charter of the County of Sacramento. Much of the

Government of California The government of California is the governmental structure of the U.S. state of California as established by the Constitution of California, California Constitution. California uses the separation of powers system to structure its government. It ...

is in practice the responsibility of county governments such as the Government of Sacramento County, while municipalities such as the city of

and Folsom provide additional, often non-essential services. It is composed of the elected five-member Board of Supervisors, several other elected offices including the

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

, and Assessor, and numerous county departments and entities under the supervision of the County Executive Officer. In addition, several entities of the

government of California The government of California is the governmental structure of the U.S. state of California as established by the Constitution of California, California Constitution. California uses the separation of powers system to structure its government. It ...

have jurisdiction conterminous with Sacramento County, such as the Sacramento County Superior Court. Under its foundational Charter, the five-member elected

Sacramento County Board of Supervisors The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors is the five-member governing board of Sacramento County, California. Like all other counties in California, with the exception of the City and County of San Francisco, California, San Francisco, Sacramen ...

(BOS) is the county legislature. The board operates in a legislative, executive, and

quasi-judicial A quasi-judicial body is a non-judicial body which can interpret law. It is an entity such as an arbitration panel or tribunal board, which can be a public administrative agency (not part of the judicial branch of government) but also a contra ...

capacity. The current members are: * Phil Serna, District 1 * Patrick Kennedy, District 2 * Rich Desmond, District 3 * Sue Frost, District 4 * Pat Hume, District 5 The Sacramento County Code is the codified law of Sacramento County in the form of

local ordinance A local ordinance is a law issued by a local government such as a municipality, county, parish, prefecture, or the like. Hong Kong In Hong Kong, all laws enacted by the territory's Legislative Council remain to be known as ''Ordinances'' () ...

s passed by the Board of Supervisors.

Policing

The Sacramento County Sheriff provides court protection and jail management for the entire county. It provides patrol and detective services for the unincorporated areas of the county. Incorporated municipalities within the county that have their own municipal police departments or contract with the Sacramento County sheriff for their policing are: Elk Grove, 170,000, municipal department; Citrus Heights, 88,000, municipal department; Folsom, 78,000, municipal department; Isleton, sheriff contract; Rancho Cordova, 73,000, sheriff contract; Galt, population 26,000, municipal department. Other law enforcement agencies in the county include the Sacramento County Park Rangers that service the County Parks, Twin Rivers Unified School District Police servicing police services for Twin Rivers School District, and the Fulton-El Camino Park District Police Department servicing Recreation and Park Districts. The Fulton-El Camino Park District Police operating under the Fulton-El Camino Recreation and Park District was disbanded as of November 26, 2024, following an alleged mismanagement of government funds, ethical and moral dilemmas by Emily Ballus (General Manager) and Beth Johnson (Interim Chief of Police). ABC10 conducted an investigation regarding misappropriation of funds.

Politics

Voter registration

Cities by population and voter registration

Overview

Sacramento County was politically competitive in most presidential elections between 1976 and 2004, but now votes significantly in favor of the Democratic candidates. Candidates from the Democratic Party have carried the county in the past eight presidential elections, and have won a majority of the county's votes five times during that timespan. The city of

is strongly Democratic, while rural areas are strongly Republican; suburban areas are more divided. This pattern is also present in congressional and state legislative elections. The last Republican presidential candidate to win a majority in the county was

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

in 1988. However, it has voted to the right of California at large since

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

. In gubernatorial elections, Sacramento County is typically a bellwether, having voted for the winner every time since 1962 with the exception of 1970 and 2002. In the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

, all of California's 6th congressional district and portions of its 3rd, and 7th districts are in the county. In the State Assembly, all of the 7th and

8th Eighth is ordinal form of the number eight. Eighth may refer to: * One eighth, , a fraction, one of eight equal parts of a whole * Eighth note (quaver), a musical note played for half the value of a quarter note (crotchet) * Octave, an interval b ...

districts and parts of the 6th, 9th, and 11th districts are in the county. In the

State Senate In the United States, the state legislature is the legislative branch in each of the 50 U.S. states. A legislature generally performs state duties for a state in the same way that the United States Congress performs national duties at ...

, parts of the

1st First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

, 3rd, 4th, 6th, and

districts are in the county. According to the

California Secretary of State The secretary of state of California is the chief clerk of the U.S. state of California, overseeing a department of 500 people. The Secretary of state (U.S. state government), secretary of state is elected for four year terms, like the state's o ...

, as of October 22, 2012, Sacramento County has 698,899 registered voters, out of 944,243 eligible (74%). Of those, 306,960 (44%) are registered Democrats, 225,688 (32%) are registered Republicans, and 134,677 (19%) have declined to state a political party.

Crime

The following table includes the number of incidents reported and the rate per 1,000 persons for each type of offense.

Cities by population and crime rates

Education

Colleges and universities

; Public universities * California State University Sacramento *

UC Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

Extension ** UC Davis School of Medicine **UC Davis Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing ; Community colleges * Los Rios Community College District ** American River College ** Cosumnes River College ** Folsom Lake College **

Sacramento City College Sacramento City College (SCC) is a public community college in Sacramento, California. SCC is part of the Los Rios Community College District and had an enrollment of 25,307 in 2009. It is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community ...

* San Joaquin Delta Community College District * Sierra Joint Community College District ; Private, not for profit * University of the Pacific in Sacramento *

National University A national university is mainly a university created or managed by a government, but which may also at the same time operate autonomously without direct control by the state. In the United States, the term "national university" connotes the highe ...

Sacramento Regional Campus *

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded in 1855, it has nearly 9,000 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees ...

Regional Campus *

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

Extension * Western Seminary * Epic Bible College ; Private, for profit *

Alliant International University Alliant International University is a Private university, private For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit university with its main campus in San Diego, five additional campuses in California (San Francisco, Los Angeles, Irv ...

* California Northstate University College of Pharmacy * Chamberlain University Rancho Cordova * DeVry University * Lincoln Law School of Sacramento * MTI College * Professional School of Psychology * San Joaquin Valley College * The Art Institute of California – Sacramento, a branch of The Art Institute of California - Los Angeles * Universal Technical Institute *

University of Phoenix University of Phoenix (UoPX) is a Private university, private For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit university headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 1976, the university confers certificates and degrees at the Ac ...

Sacramento Valley

K-12 education

School districts include: K-12: * Center Joint Unified School District * Elk Grove Unified School District * Folsom-Cordova Unified School District * Natomas Unified School District * River Delta Unified School District * Sacramento City Unified School District * San Juan Unified School District * Twin Rivers Unified School District - Includes some areas for grades K-12, some for 7–12 only, and some for 9–12 only Secondary: *

Galt Joint Union High School District Galt Joint Union High School District (GJUHSD) is a high school district headquartered in Galt, California. It serves sections of Sacramento and San Joaquin counties.Roseville Joint Union High School District Elementary: * Arcohe Union School District * Dry Creek Joint Elementary School District * Elverta Joint Elementary School District * Galt Joint Union Elementary School District * Robla School District

Transportation

Public Transportation

Sacramento Regional Transit District, also known as Sacramento RT, provides public transit throughout the county. It operates bus services, as well as light rail services on the

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...

, and

Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

lines. In addition, the Yolobus provides Sacramento County with service connecting to destinations in neighboring Yolo County, such as Davis. SaRT and Yolobus both provide bus services connecting Sacramento with

Sacramento International Airport Sacramento International Airport is an international airport located in Sacramento, northwest of Downtown Sacramento in Sacramento County, California, United States and covers . It serves the Sacramento Metropolitan Area, and it is run by th ...

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 ...

and its

Amtrak California Amtrak California is a brand name used by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) Division of Rail for three state-supported Amtrak regional rail routes in Californiathe ''Capitol Corridor'', the ''Pacific Surfliner'', and the ...

subsidiary operate passenger rail service from the Sacramento Valley station. This station is served by the

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, ...

, the

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 ...

, the

Capitol Corridor The ''Capitol Corridor'' is a passenger train route in Northern California operated by Amtrak between San Jose, California, San Jose, in the Bay Area, and Auburn, California, Auburn, in the Sacramento Valley. The route is named after the two ...

, and the San Joaquins, which link the region with destinations across California and the United States.

Major highways

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Airports

is a major, full-service airport with passenger flights. It is owned by the County of Sacramento. The county also owns Sacramento Mather Airport in Rancho Cordova and Sacramento Executive Airport, both of which are general aviation airports. Sacramento McClellan Airport, formerly McClellan Air Force Base, is a privately owned airport between North Highlands and Rio Linda. There are also privately owned public use airports located in Elk Grove and Rio Linda.

Public roadways

The Sacramento County Department of Transportation (SACDOT) maintains approximately 2200 miles of roadway within the unincorporated area. The roads range from six lane thoroughfares to rural roads.

Communities

Cities

* Citrus Heights * Elk Grove * Folsom * Galt * Isleton * Rancho Cordova *

(county seat)

Census-designated places

Antelope The term antelope refers to numerous extant or recently extinct species of the ruminant artiodactyl family Bovidae that are indigenous to most of Africa, India, the Middle East, Central Asia, and a small area of Eastern Europe. Antelopes do ...

* Arden-Arcade * Carmichael *

Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

* Courtland * Elverta * Fair Oaks *

Florin The Florentine florin was a gold coin (in Italian ''Fiorino d'oro'') struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains () of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a pu ...

* Foothill Farms * Franklin * Freeport * Fruitridge Pocket * Gold River *

Herald A herald, or a herald of arms, is an officer of arms, ranking between pursuivant and king of arms. The title is commonly applied more broadly to all officers of arms. Heralds were originally messengers sent by monarchs or noblemen ...

* Hood * La Riviera * Lemon Hill * Mather * McClellan Park * North Highlands * Orangevale *

Parkway A parkway is a landscaped thoroughfare. The term is particularly used for a roadway in a park or connecting to a park from which trucks and other heavy vehicles are excluded. Over the years, many different types of roads have been labeled p ...

* Rancho Murieta * Rio Linda * Rosemont *

Vineyard A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...

* Walnut Grove * Wilton

Unincorporated community

* Locke

Former townships

In February 1851, the county was divided into eight

civil township A civil township is a widely used unit of local government in the United States that is subordinate to a County (United States), county, most often in the northern and midwestern parts of the country. The term town is used in New England town, Ne ...

s: the seven marked by asterisks below, plus Sacramento township. In July of that year, American township was divided off from Sacramento township. In 1856, the Board of Supervisors realigned the divisions into the 14 civil townships below, plus the city of Sacramento. * Alabama * American * Brighton* * Center* * Cosumnes* * Dry Creek * Franklin * Georgiana * Granite * Lee * Mississippi* * Natoma* * San Joaquin* * Sutter*

Population ranking

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2020 census of Sacramento County. † ''county seat''

Notes

References

External links

*
Sacramento County transit websiteSacramento Metro Chamber – representing Sacramento County and surrounding counties
{{Authority control California counties Counties in the Sacramento metropolitan area Sacramento Valley 1850 establishments in California Populated places established in 1850 Majority-minority counties in California