Sacramento County, California


Sacramento County is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,418,788. Its county seat is Sacramento, which has been the state capital of California since 1854.
Sacramento County is the central county of the Greater Sacramento 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 and San Joaquin River, including Suisun Bay, north to about ten miles 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.

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, 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, of which is land and 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, in the southeast part of Folsom. 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.

Adjacent counties

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 White, 200,228 African American, 14,308 Native American, 203,211 Asian, 13,858 Pacific Islander, 131,691 from other races, and 93,511 from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 306,196 persons.

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. There were 474,814 housing units at an average density of 492/sq mi. 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 and policing

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 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.

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.

Politics

Voter registration

Cities by population and voter registration

Overview

Sacramento County was politically competitive in most presidential elections between 1952–2004, but now votes significantly in favor of the Democratic candidates. 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. 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.
YearGOPDEMOthers
201633.75% 189,78957.98% 326,0238.26% 46,473
201239.13% 202,51458.06% 300,5032.81% 14,565
200839.34% 213,58358.30% 316,5062.35% 12,770
200449.29% 235,53949.52% 236,6571.19% 5,670
200045.33% 195,61949.31% 212,7925.36% 23,139
199640.76% 166,04949.83% 203,0199.42% 38,346
199235.36% 160,36643.56% 197,54021.08% 95,606
198851.01% 201,83247.65% 188,5571.34% 5,301
198455.56% 204,92243.14% 159,1281.30% 4,791
198047.72% 153,72140.37% 130,03111.91% 38,368
197644.63% 123,11052.27% 144,2033.10% 8,563
197249.00% 141,21847.63% 137,2873.37% 9,716
196841.66% 97,17750.92% 118,7697.42% 17,300
196434.17% 77,87165.68% 149,6680.15% 332
196043.26% 84,25256.32% 109,6950.42% 809
195645.10% 67,68654.73% 82,1340.17% 260
195249.02% 67,20750.37% 69,0660.61% 837
194837.78% 35,07458.38% 54,1973.85% 3,571
194433.16% 24,61166.30% 49,2040.54% 403
194030.76% 23,20168.09% 51,3511.15% 864
193620.14% 12,11978.53% 47,2651.33% 800
193227.74% 14,55369.32% 36,3702.94% 1,542
192850.83% 20,76248.19% 19,6840.99% 403
192441.08% 13,4007.01% 2,28551.91% 16,932
192064.87% 15,63429.67% 7,1505.46% 1,316
191640.19% 10,69654.63% 14,5385.18% 1,379
19120.19% 3651.39% 9,86948.43% 9,300
190855.15% 6,51538.37% 4,5336.48% 766
190465.23% 6,66623.33% 2,38411.45% 1,170
190054.78% 5,50643.03% 4,3252.19% 220
189647.68% 4,60050.07% 4,8312.25% 217
189248.92% 4,36239.23% 3,49811.85% 1,057

Conversely, in gubernatorial elections the county often favors Republican candidates, most recently doing so in 2002, 2003 and 2006.
YearGOPDEM
201841.2% 212,01058.8% 302,696
201437.7% 122,34262.3% 202,416
201038.5% 162,36956.7% 239,599
200660.5% 218,88934.2% 123,685
200352.3% 195,43526.5% 98,877
200246.6% 147,45640.8% 129,143
199839.7% 142,97057.4% 206,870
199454.8% 196,22940.9% 146,423
199050.3% 167,98244.7% 149,215
198668.1% 207,08630.1% 91,660
198252.4% 171,17644.7% 146,167
197834.7% 88,44554.9% 139,821
197445.9% 104,59551.6% 117,711
197046.0% 105,52352.5% 120,365
196650.9% 109,80149.1% 105,861
196237.7% 71,78860.7% 115,462

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. Of those, 306,960 are registered Democrats, 225,688 are registered Republicans, and 134,677 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 schools

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 maintains approximately 2200 miles of roadway within the unincorporated area. The roads range from six lane thoroughfares to rural roads.

Communities

Cities

At the time of its formation, the county comprised several civil townships. By 1885 it was made up of 14 townships:
The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2010 census of Sacramento County.
† county seat
RankCity/town/etc.Municipal typePopulation
1† Sacramento City466,488
2Elk GroveCity153,015
3Arden-ArcadeCDP92,186
4Citrus HeightsCity83,301
5FolsomCity72,203
6Rancho CordovaCity64,776
7CarmichaelCDP61,762
8FlorinCDP47,513
9AntelopeCDP45,770
10North HighlandsCDP42,694
11OrangevaleCDP33,960
12Foothill FarmsCDP33,121
13Fair OaksCDP30,912
14VineyardCDP24,836
15GaltCity23,647
16RosemontCDP22,681
17Rio LindaCDP15,106
18ParkwayCDP14,670
19Lemon HillCDP13,729
20La RivieraCDP10,802
21Gold RiverCDP7,912
22Fruitridge PocketCDP5,800
23ElvertaCDP5,492
24Rancho MurietaCDP5,488
25WiltonCDP5,363
26MatherCDP4,451
27Walnut GroveCDP1,542
28ClayCDP1,195
29HeraldCDP1,184
30IsletonCity804
31McClellan ParkCDP743
32CourtlandCDP355
33HoodCDP271
34FranklinCDP155
35FreeportCDP38

Climate