Sacramento–Roseville–Arden-Arcade, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area
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The Greater Sacramento area refers to a metropolitan region in
Northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...
comprising either the
U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
defined Sacramento–Roseville–Arden-Arcade metropolitan statistical area or the larger Sacramento–Roseville combined statistical area, the latter of which consists of seven counties, namely Sacramento, Yolo, Placer,
El Dorado El Dorado (, ; Spanish for "the golden"), originally ''El Hombre Dorado'' ("The Golden Man") or ''El Rey Dorado'' ("The Golden King"), was the term used by the Spanish in the 16th century to describe a mythical tribal chief (''zipa'') or king o ...
, Sutter, Yuba, and Nevada counties. Straddling the Central Valley and
Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...
regions of California, Greater Sacramento is anchored by the state capital of Sacramento, the political center of California. Greater Sacramento also contains sites of natural beauty including
Lake Tahoe Lake Tahoe (; was, Dáʔaw, meaning "the lake") is a Fresh water, freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada of the United States. Lying at , it straddles the state line between California and Nevada, west of Carson City, Nevad ...
, the largest alpine lake in North America and numerous ski and nature resorts. It is also located in one of the world's most important agricultural areas. The region's eastern counties are located in Gold Country, site of the
California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...
. Since the late 20th century, it has been one of the fastest growing urban regions in the United States as Sacramento continues to emerge as a distinct metropolitan area. In the 1990s, the metro area experienced a growth of just over 20%, with subsequent growth remaining above 10% per decade. In the 2020 Census, the metropolitan region had a population of 2,680,831.


Regional composition

The Greater Sacramento area is composed of seven counties, two metropolitan statistical areas and one micropolitan area. The following counties are located in the Greater Sacramento area: *
El Dorado County, California El Dorado County (), officially the County of El Dorado, is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 191,185. The county seat is Placerville. The County is part of the Sacramento- Roseville-A ...
* Nevada County, California * Placer County, California * Sacramento County, California * Sutter County, California * Yolo County, California * Yuba County, California El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo counties compose the Sacramento–Roseville-Folsom, California, Metropolitan Statistical Area. Sutter and Yuba counties compose the Yuba City Metropolitan Statistical Area, known as the Yuba–Sutter area. Nevada County composes the Truckee–Grass Valley Micropolitan Area.


Overview

Greater Sacramento straddles two key regions of California, the Central Valley and the Sierra Nevada mountains and is overlapped by the cultural influences of three areas, the
Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...
, Eastern California and
Northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...
. An increasing phenomenon taking shape in Greater Sacramento is growth of urban sprawl as Sacramento and its metropolitan area continue to expand. The growth is due in part to first, higher costs of living in the Bay Area which have caused commuters to move as far as Yolo and Sacramento counties and more recently, growth and rising living costs in the core of Sacramento, building up more areas in the surrounding counties for commuters. Local and state governments are trying to prevent destruction of forests and open land and curbing the spread before Sacramento faces an urban sprawl crisis as the Greater Los Angeles Area has. Sacramento is the largest city in the metropolitan area, home to approximately 500,000 people, making it the sixth-largest city in California and the 35th largest in the United States. It has been the state capital of California since 1851 and has played an important role in the history of California. When gold was discovered in nearby Sutter's Mill in Coloma, Sacramento became a boom town luring in migrants making their way from San Francisco to the gold fields of the Sierras. Although it did not become the financial and cultural center of Northern California, titles that were given to San Francisco, Sacramento became the largest transportation hub of not only Northern California, but also the West Coast following the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad. Sacramento today continues to be one of the largest rail hubs in North America, and its
rail station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing such ...
is one of the busiest in the United States. In 2002, Time Magazine featured an article recognizing Sacramento as the most diverse and integrated city in America. Government (state and federal) jobs are still the largest sector of employment in the city and the city council does considerable effort to keep state agencies from moving outside the city limits. The remainder of
Sacramento County Sacramento County () is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,585,055. Its county seat is Sacramento, which has been the state capital of California since 1854. Sacramento County is the ...
is suburban in general with most of the working population commuting to
Downtown Sacramento Downtown Sacramento is the central business district of the city of Sacramento. Downtown is generally defined as the area south of the American River, east of the Sacramento River, north of Broadway, and west of 16th Street. The central business ...
and with a smaller proportion commuting all the way to the Bay Area. Yolo County is a mixture of an agricultural area and commuter region, with most of its working population commuting either to the Bay Area or Sacramento for work. It is home to the University of California, Davis, campus, the northernmost UC campus and only UC campus in the Greater Sacramento region.
El Dorado El Dorado (, ; Spanish for "the golden"), originally ''El Hombre Dorado'' ("The Golden Man") or ''El Rey Dorado'' ("The Golden King"), was the term used by the Spanish in the 16th century to describe a mythical tribal chief (''zipa'') or king o ...
and Placer Counties form the remainder of the inner core of Greater Sacramento and are composed of the Sierra foothills and mountains. The western areas of the counties are composed of commuter suburbs to Sacramento while the eastern areas border Lake Tahoe and are home to numerous ski resorts and towns such as
South Lake Tahoe South Lake Tahoe is the most populous city in El Dorado County, California, United States, in the Sierra Nevada. The city's population was 21,330 at the 2020 census, down from 21,403 at the 2010 census. The city, along the southern edge of Lake ...
, site of the Heavenly Mountain Resort, which are popular in winter months and nature camps and resorts in summer months. Placer County has been an important mining area not only for gold, but also other minerals and granite. It is also the site of Squaw Valley, which hosted the
1960 Winter Olympics The 1960 Winter Olympics (officially the VIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Squaw Valley 1960) were a winter multi-sport event held from February 18 to 28, 1960, at the Squaw Valley Resort (now known as Palisades Tahoe) in Squaw Vall ...
, which has been up to date, the only Winter Olympic Games to be held in California and the
US West Coast The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast, Pacific states, and the western seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous U.S ...
and the smallest city to host an Olympics. The Yuba–Sutter area consists of Yuba and Sutter counties and is a primarily agricultural area, although the southern area is more suburban in character. It is home to Sunsweet Growers, which owns the world's largest dried fruit plant in Yuba City. Nevada County, like El Dorado and Placer Counties, borders Lake Tahoe and contains numerous ski resorts such as the
Boreal Mountain Resort Boreal Mountain California is a ski area in Soda Springs, near the Lake Tahoe area of California. It has six chairlifts and two surface lifts, and offers the only night skiing in Tahoe, until 8 pm. It is owned by Powdr Corporation. Located on ...
, but is more rural than the former two counties and is an important gold mining area. The
Donner Memorial State Park Donner Memorial State Park is a state park of California, US, preserving the site of the Donner Camp, where members of the ill-fated Donner Party were trapped by weather during the winter of 1846–1847. Caught without shelter or adequate sup ...
is located in the county, where the ill-fated Donner Party was trapped in winter storms in 1846–47 while attempting to make it to California on a poorly organized trip. Douglas County, Nevada was recently briefly added to the Sacramento Combined Statistical Area. As Greater Sacramento continues to grow beyond its inner region, Western Nevada continues to be influenced by Sacramento and California and their cultures. However, Douglas County has since been removed again from the Sacramento CSA, and transferred to the Reno-Carson City-Fernley, NV CSA.


Geography and climate


Geography

The western half of Greater Sacramento is centered on the Central Valley, one of the most vital agricultural areas in the country. The Sierra Nevada and its foothills compose the eastern portion of the region. Yolo County contains a large flood control basin. The Sacramento River and the American River are major rivers that form a deepwater port connected to the
San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland. San Francisco Bay drains water from a ...
by a channel through the Sacramento River Delta. Coniferous and oak-dominated woodland are prevalent in the Sierra Nevada and the Lake Tahoe area.


Climate

Sacramento and the valley area have a Mediterranean climate ( Köppen ''Csa''), characterized by damp to wet, cool winters and hot, dry summers. The wet season is generally October through April. Summer heat is often moderated by a sea breeze known as the "delta breeze" which comes through the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta from the
San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland. San Francisco Bay drains water from a ...
. January is the coolest month for the entire region with an average maximum of 41.0 °F (5.0 °C) and an average minimum of 15.1 °F (-9.4 °C) in Lake Tahoe. The eastern portion of Greater Sacramento experiences a more varied climate with 90 °F (32.2 °C) temperatures in August to below freezing temperatures in winter. In higher elevations, freezing temperatures have been recorded every month. In the winter, below freezing temperatures are common in Sacramento and lower valley elevations although snowfall is scarce and usually melts on ground contact with significant snowfall occurring roughly every 3–5 years. However, blizzard conditions in winter storms can be common in the higher elevations.


Communities


Incorporated places

* Places with more than 400,000 inhabitants ** Sacramento * Places with 100,000 to 200,000 inhabitants ** Elk Grove **
Roseville Roseville may refer to: Australia *Roseville, New South Wales Canada * Roseville, Ontario Malta * RoseVille (aka Villa Roseville), a house in Attard, Malta South Africa *Roseville, Pretoria, a suburb United Kingdom *Roseville, Dudley United S ...
* Places with 50,000 to 100,000 inhabitants **
Citrus Heights Citrus Heights is a city in Sacramento County, California. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 87,583, up from 83,301 at the 2010 U.S. Census. History Citrus Heights voters approved the measure to incorporate the City on Nov ...
**
Davis Davis may refer to: Places Antarctica * Mount Davis (Antarctica) * Davis Island (Palmer Archipelago) * Davis Valley, Queen Elizabeth Land Canada * Davis, Saskatchewan, an unincorporated community * Davis Strait, between Nunavut and Gre ...
**
Folsom Folsom may refer to: People * Folsom (surname) Places in the United States * Folsom, Perry County, Alabama * Folsom, Randolph County, Alabama * Folsom, California * Folsom, Georgia * Folsom, Louisiana * Folsom, Missouri * Folsom, New Jersey * ...
**
Rancho Cordova Rancho Cordova is a city in Sacramento County, California, United States which was incorporated in 2003. It is part of the Sacramento Metropolitan Area. The population was 64,776 at the 2010 census. In 2010 and 2019, Rancho Cordova was named ...
** Rocklin ** West Sacramento ** Woodland ** Yuba City * Places with 10,000 to 50,000 inhabitants **
Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...
** Galt **
Grass Valley A grass valley (also vega and valle) is a meadow located within a forested and relatively small drainage basin such as a headwater. Grass valleys are common in North America, where they are created and maintained principally by the work of b ...
** Lincoln ** Marysville ** Placerville **
South Lake Tahoe South Lake Tahoe is the most populous city in El Dorado County, California, United States, in the Sierra Nevada. The city's population was 21,330 at the 2020 census, down from 21,403 at the 2010 census. The city, along the southern edge of Lake ...
**
Truckee Truckee is an incorporated town in Nevada County, California, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 16,180, reflecting an increase of 2,316 from the 13,864 counted in the 2000 Census and having the 316th highes ...
* Places with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants ** Colfax **
Isleton Isleton is a city in Sacramento County, California, United States. The population was 804 at the 2010 census, down from 828 at the 2000 census. It is located on Andrus Island amid the slough wetlands of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, ...
** Live Oak ** Loomis ** Nevada City ** Wheatland ** Winters


Census-designated places

* Alta Sierra *
Antelope The term antelope is used to refer to many species of even-toed ruminant that are indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelope comprise a wastebasket taxon defined as any of numerous Old World grazing and browsing hoofed mammals ...
* Arden-Arcade * Beale Air Force Base * Challenge–Brownsville * Cameron Park * Carmichael * Diamond Springs * Dollar Point *
El Dorado Hills El Dorado Hills (''El Dorado'', Spanish for "The Golden") is an unincorporated town and census-designated place in El Dorado County, California. Located in the Greater Sacramento region of Northern California, it had a population was 50,547 at ...
* Elverta * Esparto * Fair Oaks *
Florin The Florentine florin was a gold coin struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains (3.499 grams, 0.113 troy ounce) of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a purcha ...
*
Foothill Farms Foothill Farms is a census-designated place (CDP) and unincorporated community in Sacramento County, California, USA. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade– Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 33,121 at the ...
*
Foresthill Foresthill is a census-designated place (CDP) in Placer County, California, United States. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade– Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,483 at the 2010 census, down from 1,791 ...
* Fruitridge Pocket * Georgetown * Gold River *
Granite Bay Granite Bay is a census-designated place (CDP) in Placer County, California, United States. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade– Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 21,247 at the 2020 census, up from 20,402 ...
* Kings Beach * La Riviera *
Lake of the Pines Lake of the Pines is a census-designated place (CDP) and a gated residential community in Nevada County, California, United States. The population was 3,917 at the 2010 census. History Lake of the Pines was laid out by property developers in th ...
* Lake Wildwood *
Lemon Hill Lemon Hill is a Federal-style mansion in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, built from 1799 to 1800 by Philadelphia merchant Henry Pratt. The house is named after the citrus fruits that Pratt cultivated on the property in the early 19th century. ...
* Linda * Loma Rica * Meadow Vista * North Auburn * North Highlands *
Olivehurst Olivehurst (formerly, Denniston) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Yuba County, California, United States. The population was 13,656 at the 2010 census, up from 11,061 at the 2000 census. Olivehurst is located south-southeast of Marysville. ...
* Orangevale *
Parkway A parkway is a landscaped thoroughfare.''"parkway."''Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. Merriam-Webster, 2002. http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com (14 Apr. 2007). The term is particularly used for a roadway in a park or ...
* Penn Valley *
Plumas Lake Plumas (Spanish for "feathers") may refer to: Places Canada *Plumas, Manitoba **Plumas station Mexico *Santiago Ihuitlán Plumas United States *Plumas County, California *Plumas National Forest *Plumas Lake, California Other uses * USS ''Plumas ...
*
Pollock Pines Pollock Pines is a census-designated place (CDP) in El Dorado County, California, United States. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade– Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area. Pollock Pines lies at an elevation of in the Sierra Ne ...
* Rancho Murieta *
Rio Linda Rio Linda (Spanish: ''Río Linda'', meaning "Pretty River") is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sacramento County, California. It is part of the Sacramento metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the CDP population was 15,106, up from 10,466 a ...
*
Rosemont Rosemont may refer to: * Rosemont (horse), an American Thoroughbred racehorse * ''Rosemont'', a 2015 film Places In Australia * Rosemont (Woollahra), located in the Sydney suburb of Woollahra and listed on the NSW State Heritage Register In Canada ...
*
Shingle Springs Shingle Springs (formerly, Shingle Spring and Shingle) is a census-designated place (CDP) in El Dorado County, California, United States. The population was 4,432 at the 2010 census, up from 2,643 at the 2000 census. It is located about from Sacra ...
* South Yuba City * Sunnyside–Tahoe City * Sutter * Tahoe Vista * Tierra Buena * Vineyard * Walnut Grove * Wilton


Demographics

As of the 2020 census, there were 2,397,382 people residing within the MSA. The racial makeup was 52.5% White, 7.0% Black, 1.1% American Indian, 14.9% Asian, 0.9% Pacific Islander, 10.4% Other and 13.2% Two or More Races. 22.2% identified as Hispanic or Latino. The median income for a household in the MSA in 2000 was $48,401, and the median income for a family was $57,112. Males had a median income of $43,572 versus $31,889 for females. The per capita income for the MSA was $23,508.


Transportation

Owing to its central location between the
Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...
and Nevada border, Greater Sacramento is a key transportation hub into Northern California. While the region doesn't have an extensive public transportation system as the San Francisco Bay Area, Greater Sacramento has had an earlier history of public mass transit and is served by a vast freeway system as well as some light rail.


Freeways and highways

Sacramento is served by numerous highways. Five highways merge in the ''Capital City Corridor'', serving the immediate downtown Sacramento area. The major freeways of the Greater Sacramento area are
Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one o ...
, US Route 50, Interstate 5, and
State Route 99 International * European route E99 Australia * Springbrook Road, Queensland Canada * British Columbia Highway 99 * Ontario Highway 99 (former) * Saskatchewan Highway 99 China * G99 Expressway India * National Highway 99 (India) I ...
, which serve the northern Tahoe area, southern Tahoe area, and valley areas, respectively, as well as forming the Capital City Corridor along with Interstate 80 Business. Outside downtown Sacramento, there is only one principal route that serves its respective area and there are smaller state routes as well. Freeways and highways in the Greater Sacramento areas include: * Interstate 5 *
Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one o ...
*
Interstate 505 Interstate 505 (I-505) is a north–south auxiliary Interstate Highway in the Sacramento Valley in Northern California. It is a spur auxiliary route of I-5 that runs from near Dunnigan south to I-80 in Vacaville. I-505 is primarily a rura ...
*
U.S. Route 50 U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlanti ...
*
U.S. Route 395 U.S. Route 395 (US 395) is a U.S. Route in the western United States. The southern terminus of the route is in the Mojave Desert at Interstate 15 near Hesperia. The northern terminus is at the Canada–US border near Laurier, where the road be ...
* Interstate 80 Business * California State Route 12 * California State Route 16 * California State Route 20 * California State Route 28 *
California State Route 45 State Route 45 (SR 45) is a state highway in the U.S. State of California that travels in a north–south direction in the Sacramento Valley from Route 113 in Knights Landing to Route 32 in Hamilton City. Route description The route be ...
*
California State Route 49 State Route 49 (SR 49) is a north–south state highway in the U.S. state of California that passes through many historic mining communities of the 1849 California gold rush. Highway 49 is numbered after the "49ers", the waves of immigrants ...
* California State Route 65 *
California State Route 70 State Route 70 (SR 70) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California, connecting SR 99 north of Sacramento with U.S. Route 395 (US 395) near Beckwourth Pass (lowest in the Sierra Nevada) via the Feather River Canyon. Through the Feather R ...
* California State Route 89 * California State Route 99 *
California State Route 104 State Route 104 (SR 104) is a west–east state highway in the U.S. state of California that runs from the Central Valley to the Sierra Foothills. It connects State Route 99 near Galt to State Route 49 in Sutter Creek via the city of Ione. ...
*
California State Route 113 State Route 113 (SR 113) is a north–south state highway in the U.S. state of California that runs from around in the Sacramento Valley west of Rio Vista at State Route 12 to State Route 99 south of Yuba City. It serves as one of two im ...
* California State Route 128 * California State Route 160 *
California State Route 174 State Route 174 (SR 174) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California. The two-lane 13-mile (21 km) highway in the western Sierra Nevada, added to the state highway system in 1933, connects Interstate 80 in Colfax with SR 20/ SR 49 ...
*
California State Route 193 State Route 193 (SR 193) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that runs through Placer and El Dorado counties. It begins as an east–west arterial road running from Lincoln to Newcastle, just west of Auburn. Then after concurr ...
* California State Route 220 *
California State Route 244 State Route 244 (SR 244) is an Unsigned highway, unsigned state highway in the U.S. state of California located northeast of Sacramento, California, Sacramento. It serves as a short freeway connection between the Interstate 80 in California, Inter ...
*
California State Route 267 State Route 267 (SR 267), known as North Shore Boulevard, is a state highway in the U.S. state of California. It connects Interstate 80 in Truckee with State Route 28 in Kings Beach on Lake Tahoe's shoreline. It serves as an alternate route ...
* Nevada State Route 28 *
Nevada State Route 88 State Route 88 (SR 88) is a north–south state highway in the Carson Valley in western Douglas County, Nevada, United States. It runs from the California state line along ''Woodfords Road'' to U.S. Route 395 in Minden. Prior to 1957, the h ...
* Nevada State Route 206 *
Nevada State Route 207 State Route 207 (SR 207) is a state highway in western Douglas County, Nevada, United States. Commonly known as the Kingsbury Grade, it is one of three Nevada highways that connect the western edge of the state to the Lake Tahoe region thr ...
*
Nevada State Route 208 State Route 208 (SR 208) is a state highway in Douglas and Lyon counties in Nevada, United States. It connects U.S. Route 395 (US 395) north of Topaz Lake to U.S. Route 95 Alternate in Yerington. The road serves as the primary transportation co ...
*
Nevada State Route 756 State Route 756 (SR 756) is a state highway (US), state highway in Douglas County, Nevada, Douglas County, Nevada. It connects Centerville, Nevada, Centerville to the town of Gardnerville, Nevada, Gardnerville. The route previously existed as Sta ...
*
Nevada State Route 757 State Route 757 (SR 757) is a state highway (US), state highway in Douglas County, Nevada, Douglas County, Nevada. Formerly a part of Nevada State Route 19, State Route 19, the route connects the Genoa, Nevada, Genoa area to the Johnson Lane, Nev ...
*
Nevada State Route 759 State Route 759 (SR 759) is a short state highway in Douglas County, Nevada serving the county's airport facility. Route description State Route 759 begins at U.S. Route 395, approximately north of the town limits of Minden in the Johnson Lan ...


Rail

Sacramento is the largest rail hub west of the Mississippi River and was the first terminus of the
First transcontinental railroad North America's first transcontinental railroad (known originally as the "Pacific Railroad" and later as the " Overland Route") was a continuous railroad line constructed between 1863 and 1869 that connected the existing eastern U.S. rail netwo ...
before it extended to
Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...
. The Sacramento Valley Station is the largest train station in the region, near
Old Sacramento Old Sacramento State Historic Park occupies around one third of the property within the Old Sacramento Historic District of Sacramento, California. The Old Sacramento Historic District is a U.S. National Historic Landmark District. The Historic ...
, and is connected by the Coast Starlight, California Zephyr, San Joaquins, Capitol Corridor and
Thruway Motorcoach Amtrak Thruway is a system of through-ticketed transportation services to connect passengers with areas not served by Amtrak trains. In most cases these are dedicated motorcoach routes, but can also be non-dedicated intercity bus services, tran ...
Amtrak routes. The Sacramento Regional Transit District is the local transit agency for Sacramento County and operates three light rail routes, the Blue Line,
Green Line Green Line may refer to: Places Military and political * Green Line (France), the German occupation line in France during World War II * Green Line (Israel), the 1949 armistice line established between Israel and its neighbours ** City Line ( ...
, and Gold Line, along of right-of-way that serve Sacramento and its immediate suburbs. Other train stations in the Greater Sacramento area are
Davis Davis may refer to: Places Antarctica * Mount Davis (Antarctica) * Davis Island (Palmer Archipelago) * Davis Valley, Queen Elizabeth Land Canada * Davis, Saskatchewan, an unincorporated community * Davis Strait, between Nunavut and Gre ...
,
Roseville Roseville may refer to: Australia *Roseville, New South Wales Canada * Roseville, Ontario Malta * RoseVille (aka Villa Roseville), a house in Attard, Malta South Africa *Roseville, Pretoria, a suburb United Kingdom *Roseville, Dudley United S ...
, Rocklin,
Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...
, Colfax and
Truckee Truckee is an incorporated town in Nevada County, California, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 16,180, reflecting an increase of 2,316 from the 13,864 counted in the 2000 Census and having the 316th highes ...
.


Air

The main airport servicing Greater Sacramento is the
Sacramento International Airport Sacramento International Airport is located northwest of Downtown Sacramento in Sacramento County, California, United States and covers . It serves the Sacramento Metropolitan Area, and it is run by the Sacramento County Airport System. The a ...
north of downtown while the
Sacramento Mather Airport Sacramento Mather Airport (Mather Airport) is a public airport 11 miles east of Sacramento, in Sacramento County, California, United States. It is on the site of Mather Air Force Base, which closed in 1993 pursuant to BRAC action. Facilities ...
,
Sacramento Executive Airport Sacramento Executive Airport is a public airport three miles (5 km) south of downtown Sacramento, in Sacramento County, California, United States. The airport covers and has two lit runways and a helipad. History When it opened in 1930 Ex ...
and
Minden–Tahoe Airport Minden–Tahoe Airport is a general aviation airport serving the Carson Valley in Douglas County, Nevada, United States, including the towns of Minden, Gardnerville and Genoa, Nevada; and Lake Tahoe to the west. The airport is about five mi ...
s provide general aviation. The Reno-Tahoe International Airport in Reno provides more direct access to
Lake Tahoe Lake Tahoe (; was, Dáʔaw, meaning "the lake") is a Fresh water, freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada of the United States. Lying at , it straddles the state line between California and Nevada, west of Carson City, Nevad ...
than Sacramento International. For a wider range of destinations, residents must travel down to
San Francisco International Airport San Francisco International Airport is an international airport in an unincorporated area of San Mateo County, south of Downtown San Francisco. It has flights to points throughout North America and is a major gateway to Europe, the Middle E ...
, the largest airport in Northern California and 10th largest in the United States.


Bus

Greater Sacramento is served by extensive bus systems that link the region to the Reno and Bay Area metropolitan areas. The Sacramento Regional Transit District operates bus lines in Sacramento County and Yolobus serves Yolo County while providing connections to downtown Sacramento and northern Solano County in the Bay Area.
El Dorado Transit El Dorado Transit is the operator of mass transportation in El Dorado County, California. Service is provided to the highly urbanized corridor of Western Slope suburbs of Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacrament ...
links El Dorado County with downtown Sacramento and the city's western suburbs.
Placer County Transit Placer County Transit is the operator of mass transportation for western Placer County, California, excluding the city of Roseville, which has its own public transit system. In addition to six local routes, Placer County Transit also operates the ...
and
Roseville Transit Roseville Transit is the operator of mass transportation in the expansive Sacramento, California suburb of Roseville. Fourteen local routes provide intracity service six days per week. Commuter service is also provided eight times per weekday, c ...
link Sacramento with Placer County with the latter providing direct connection from Roseville to Sacramento. The Yuba-Sutter Transit provides bus service in the Yuba–Sutter area and direct connection to downtown Sacramento on weekdays. Gold Country Stage and Tahoe Truckee Area Rapid Transit serve Nevada County and transfer service to Auburn to Sacramento is provided. Greyhound,
Megabus Megabus may refer to: *Megabus (Europe), a low-cost coach service with services in Europe owned by ComfortDelGro. *Megabus (North America) Megabus, branded as megabus.com, is an intercity bus service of Coach USA/Coach Canada operating in the eas ...
, Flixbus, and Amtrak provide long-distance bus lines to Greater Sacramento.


Higher education

Greater Sacramento's higher education system consists of the northernmost University of California campus, University of California, Davis, and the California State University, Sacramento ("Sac State"), as well as several community colleges in the region.
Community colleges: * American River College *
Cosumnes River College Cosumnes River College is a public community college in Sacramento, California. It opened in 1970, taking its name from the Cosumnes River which flows just a few miles to the south. As of Spring 2017, enrollment was at 13,091 students at its main ...
*
Folsom Lake College Folsom Lake College (FLC) is a Public community college in Folsom, California. It is part of California Community Colleges system and the Los Rios Community College District. Folsom Lake College serves the community with classes offered at its m ...
*
Lake Tahoe Community College Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) is a public community college in South Lake Tahoe, California. It was established in 1975. At an altitude of , it is at the highest elevation of any college in the state. History Lake Tahoe Unified Schoo ...
* Sacramento City College * Sierra College * Woodland Community College * Yuba College California State University: * California State University, Sacramento University of California: * UC Davis Private: *
Alliant International University Alliant International University, often called Alliant, is a private for-profit university with its main campus in San Diego and other campuses in California. It offers programs in six California campuses – in San Francisco, San Diego, Los Ang ...
*
The Art Institute of California – Sacramento The Art Institutes (AI) are a collection of private for-profit art schools in the United States. Since 2019, the schools have been owned by Education Principle Foundation (aka Colbeck Foundation), a non-profit that also owns South Universit ...
* Drexel University (Sacramento campus) * International Academy of Design & Technology – Sacramento *
Lincoln Law School of Sacramento Lincoln Law School of Sacramento is a private, for-profit law school in Sacramento, California. The school offers an evening-only, four-year juris doctor degree program. Accreditation and bar passage rate Lincoln Law School received approv ...
* McGeorge School of Law (part of University of the Pacific) *
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. Some national universities are associated with national cultural or po ...
*
University of Northern California, Lorenzo Patiño School of Law The University of Northern California, Lorenzo Patiño School of Law (UNC) was a private law school located in Sacramento, California. UNC offered a part-time, four-year law program as well as a paralegal program. Law school registration ...

University of Phoenix - Sacramento Valley Campus
*
University of Sacramento The University of Sacramento was a private, Catholic Church, Catholic university that opened in 2005 under the sponsorship of the Legion of Christ, an order of Presbyterium, Catholic priests. It developed an ethics, ethics program in 2006. Dr. ...
* University of the Pacific, Sacramento Campus *
William Jessup University William Jessup University is a private Christian university in Rocklin, California, with an additional site in San Jose, California. The university had 1,743 students during the 2019–20 academic year, over 1650 being full-time equivalents. Foun ...


Politics

In addition to being home of the state capital of California, Greater Sacramento is considered a politically competitive area with no major political party having a majority over the region. Sacramento and Yolo counties have large Democratic pluralities and have had Democratic majorities since the 2008 presidential election, attributed to the former county being mainly urban and the latter home to the strongly Democratic university town of Davis. El Dorado, Placer, Yuba, and Sutter counties are predominantly Republican while Nevada County, despite a history of being held by Republican candidates, reflects the metropolitan area's competitiveness with pluralities between the two major parties.


Sports teams


Professional sports

The only major professional sports team based in the Greater Sacramento area are the Sacramento Kings, who play at the Golden 1 Center in Downtown Sacramento. Prior to 2009, the Sacramento Monarchs of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) were also based at the Sleep Train Arena (then known as ARCO Arena), and were one of the most successful WNBA teams until the team folded. Greater Sacramento is the only metropolitan area in the
West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...
and in California to have ever hosted a Winter Olympic Games when Squaw Valley hosted the
1960 Winter Olympics The 1960 Winter Olympics (officially the VIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Squaw Valley 1960) were a winter multi-sport event held from February 18 to 28, 1960, at the Squaw Valley Resort (now known as Palisades Tahoe) in Squaw Vall ...
, becoming the smallest city to ever host an Olympic Games, a title it still holds. Squaw Valley was the second Olympic games hosted in California and the only one not held in Los Angeles, where the
1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...
and
1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...
were hosted and was the only Winter Olympics held west of the Mississippi River until the
2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...
in Salt Lake City.


Minor league teams

Greater Sacramento is also home to minor or secondary league sports teams.
Sacramento Republic FC Sacramento Republic FC is an American professional soccer team based in Sacramento, California, that plays in the Western Conference of the USL Championship, the second level in US soccer. Co-founded by Warren Smith and Joe Wagoner in 2012, the ...
is a
soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
team that plays in the USL Championship at
Papa Murphy's Park Heart Health Park is a sports venue located on the grounds of Cal Expo in Sacramento, California. The soccer-specific stadium has a capacity of 11,569 and includes a full-sized (120 x 80 yard) soccer field. Heart Health Park is the current hom ...
, which is located on the grounds of
Cal Expo The California Exposition and State Fair (Cal Expo) is an independent state agency established by law in the California Food and Agriculture codes. Cal Expo is governed by an appointed 11-member Board of Directors and daily operations are managed ...
. A new stadium in downtown Sacramento is planned to be completed ahead of the club's move to
Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...
(MLS). The Sacramento River Cats are a triple-A
baseball team Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding te ...
affiliated with the San Francisco Giants. The team plays in West Sacramento at
Sutter Health Park Sutter Health Park is the home ballpark of the Sacramento River Cats Minor League Baseball team, which is a member of the Pacific Coast League. Known as Raley Field from 2000 to 2019, the facility was built on the site of old warehouses and rail ...
, which is located just across the Sacramento River from downtown Sacramento. ; NCAA Division I College Sports *
Sacramento State Hornets The Sacramento State Hornets (also Sac State) represent California State University, Sacramento in Sacramento, the capital city of the U.S. state of California, in intercollegiate athletics. The school fields 21 teams including men and women's ba ...
* UC Davis Aggies


See also

*
California census statistical areas The U.S. currently has 39 statistical areas that have been delineated by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). On March 6, 2020, the OMB delineated five combined statistical areas, 26 metropolitan statistical areas, and eight micropolitan ...
*
Northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...
* San Francisco Bay Area


References

{{Coord missing, Sacramento County, California Metropolitan areas of California
Sac SAC or Sac may refer to: Organizations Education * Santa Ana College, California, US * San Antonio College, Texas, US * St. Andrew's College, Aurora, Canada * Students' Administrative Council, University of Toronto, Canada * SISD Student Activiti ...
Geography of the Central Valley (California)
Sac SAC or Sac may refer to: Organizations Education * Santa Ana College, California, US * San Antonio College, Texas, US * St. Andrew's College, Aurora, Canada * Students' Administrative Council, University of Toronto, Canada * SISD Student Activiti ...
Northern California