Sacramento County, California

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 Sacramento River, which forms its western border. The river was named by Spanish cavalry officer Gabriel Moraga for the Santisimo Sacramento (Most Holy Sacrament), referring to the Catholic Eucharist.

Alexander Hamilton Willard, a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, is buried in the old Franklin Cemetery.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 994 square miles (2,570 km²), of which 965 square miles (2,500 km²) is land and 29 square miles (75 km²) (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 828 feet (252 m), in the southeast part of Folsom. Carpenter Hill is the lowest high point of any county in California. Major watercourses in the county include the American River, Sacramento River, Cosumnes River, a tributary of the Mokelumne River and Dry Creek, a tributary of the Sacramento River.

National protected areas

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, 200,228 (15.4%) African American, 14,308 (1.0%) Native American, 203,211 (14.3%) Asian, 13,858 (1.0%) Pacific Islander, 131,691 (9.3%) from other races, and 93,511 (6.6%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 306,196 persons (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 1,267 people per square mile (489/km²). There were 474,814 housing units at an average density of 492/sq mi (190/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 64.0% White, 10.6% Black or African American, 1.09% Native American, 13.5% Asian, 0.6% Pacific Islander, 7.5% from other races, and 5.8% from two or more races. 19.3% of the population were Hispanic 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, 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, the population was spread out with 27.6% under the age of 18, 9.5% from 18 to 24, 31.0% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 11.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 95.9 males. For every 100 females age 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

The Government of Sacramento County is defined and authorized under the California Constitution, California law, and the Charter of the County of Sacramento. Much of the Government of California is in practice the responsibility of county governments such as the Government of Sacramento County, while municipalities such as the city of Sacramento 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, District Attorney, 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 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 (BOS) is the county legislature. The board operates in a legislative, executive, and quasi-judicial capacity. The current members are:

The Sacramento County Code is the codified law of Sacramento County in the form of local ordinances passed by the Board of Supervisors.

Overview

Sacramento County is politically competitive in presidential elections, though marginally Democratic. Candidates from the Democratic Party have carried the county in the past seven presidential elections, and have won a majority of the county's votes thrice during that time (in 2008, 2012 and 2016). The city of Sacramento 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 in 1988. Conversely, in gubernatorial elections the county often favors Republican candidates, doing so in 2002, 2003 and 2006 before supporting Democrat Jerry Brown in 2010.

In the House of Representatives, all of California's 7th congressional district and portions of its 3rd, 6th, and 9th districts are in the county.

In the State Assembly, all of the 7th and 8th districts and parts of the 6th, 9th, and 11th districts are in the county.

In the State Senate, parts of the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 6th, and 8th districts are in the county.

According to the California Secretary of State, 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.

Public schools

Community Colleges

Private schools

Major highways

Public transportation

Sacramento Regional Transit (RT) provides bus and light rail service in Sacramento and nearby communities like Rancho Cordova, Citrus Heights, and Rosemont. Sacramento hosts 37.4 miles (60.2 km) of light rail. The cities of Elk Grove, Folsom and Galt also operate their own bus lines. In addition, the transit agencies of the adjacent counties have routes operating into downtown Sacramento, or connecting with the light rail system.

Greyhound and Amtrak both serve Sacramento. The port of Sacramento ships 870,000 short tons (790,000 metric tons) of cargo annually.

Airports

Sacramento International Airport 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. 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.

Cities

Unincorporated community

Population ranking

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2010 census of Sacramento County.

† county seat