One of California’s most prolific agricultural and wine growing regions, Sacramento County is home Sacramento, the state capital. This prosperous county offers its 1,500,000 residents a great deal of choice in lifestyle.  

If you like the country life, you might enjoy owning your own farm or vineyard, or living in one of the county’s small agricultural towns and working for one of the big growers. There are plenty of equestrian pursuits here, from working ranches to horse breeders and trainers, and some of the best horse trails in California.  

Sacramento offers all the excitement of city life, but the State Capital remains small enough to get around in easily. With its own opera company and several superb theater companies, Sacramento easily holds its own as a cultural haven, and its several top universities, including California State draw academics to the city.  

The American River winds through the county, passing through the fertile Sacramento River Delta and Sacramento, bringing refreshment and recreation during the long sunny Californian days, and the many parks, open spaces and wilderness areas give residents ample space to rest and play. 

Location
Surrounding the city of Sacramento, California’s State Capitol, Sacramento County is directly west of El Dorado County and east of Yolo County. San Joaquin County is directly south of Sacramento County and Placer County directly north. Downtown San Francisco is about 70 miles southwest of Sacramento and Vallejo is about 50 miles southwest. 

Geography/Terrain
One of California’s most important agricultural and wine growing localities, Sacramento County is mostly flat and spreads out around the State Capitol, which is built on the beautiful American River. The river winds through the county and is popular with boaters, kayakers, and, at its wildest part, white water rafting enthusiasts. The rich soils of the Sacramento River Delta support a wide range of produce.

Distance to 3 closest major cities
In the east of Sacramento County, the State Capital of Sacramento is about 70 miles northeast of Downtown San Francisco and 50 miles northeast of Vallejo. Santa Rosa is directly west of Sacramento, about 60 miles away, and South Lake Tahoe is directly east, about 90 miles away. Directly north is Yuba City, about 40 miles away.  

Jobs
Sacramento is one of California’s most prosperous counties, with a massive agricultural and wine growing sector, seven thriving cities, and the commercial, educational, and political, economic engine of the State Capitol. High-wage, high-growth industries thrive here, and large companies like Home Depot, Comcast, Golden One, Panera, and Siemens all call Sacramento County home. Other primary employers include the California State Government, California State University at Sacramento, and Sacramento City College. Business friendly Sacramento offers tax benefits and incentives to relocating businesses. 

The Mather Field business complex (12 miles from downtown Sacramento) is a vibrant new economic center, with a busy cargo airport, commerce center, upscale residential section and parklands. Nearby McClellan business park has a public airfield, aircraft-related industries, a technology incubator, data call centers, and upscale hotel and conference facilities.  

For those in search of the rural life, Sacramento County has much to recommend it. Agribusiness is thriving here, especially in the rich soils of the Sacramento River Delta. Sacramento County wine grapes have become the county’s primary commodity and the county ranks fourth in the nation for pear production. The Clarksburg Wine Growers Association is made up of local grape growers and works to promote the high-quality wine grapes of this premier growing region.

Housing
Sacramento County offers a wide range of choice to the potential resident, from rural properties like farms, vineyards, and ranches to urban situations—single family homes, apartments, condominiums and the like.
Thanks to its thriving economy, political importance, and great standard of living, the State Capitol is a highly popular place to live, and homes tend to sell relatively rapidly. Currently, homes listed and priced to sell from $250,000 to over $1,000,000 sell within 30 to 180 days. New housing developments are underway in the Natomas area to the north, and in South Sacramento, and older areas like Oak Park and Del Paso are undergoing urban renewal, with many renovated homes now on the market. The current median house sale price sits around $390,000 in Sacramento, an increase of 1.5% from last year. 

In Sacramento County in general the median housing sale price was $365,000.
Looking at median levels, the average house appreciated by about 7.7% between March 2005 and March 2006. 

Parks/Sports/Recreation/Golf
From rafting on the American River to bird watching at the Effie Yeaw Nature Center, there’s always plenty to do out of doors in Sacramento County, and plenty of year round sunshine to do it in. City parks and recreational amenities are excellent and city recreational programs comprehensive, particularly in Sacramento. The State Capital also has great pro and college sports.  

The county has over 14,000-acres of protected open space, and some of the nicest places to relax and play include the American River Parkway (a 23-mile long protected greenbelt along the river with paved walking trails and a golf course, ideal for accessing the river and fishing), the Cosumnes River Preserve (a wetland haven for rare and endangered birds, animals, and plants with trails for wildlife viewing), and Deer Creek Hills (4,060-acres of rolling grasslands and oak woodland). Dry Creek Parkway in the northern part of Sacramento County has a golf course, horse trails, picnic facilities, soccer fields, and hiking trails, and good fishing is to be had in the creek.  

There are three Regional Parks in the county, including Elk Grove Park, which has ball fields and concert facilities; Gibson Ranch, a fully working ranch with great family activities and some of the best horse back riding trails in the county, and Mather Regional Park, home to the superb Mather Golf Course and a series of exquisite vernal pools. 

Sacramento County is known for the excellence of its golf courses; these include Ancil Hoffman, Cherry Island and Mather, all professionally designed championship courses. 

The Sacramento River Delta network of winding levees and small islands is a wonderful place to go boating, windsurfing, kayaking, fishing, and picnicking on the weekend. 

Special Attractions/Events
Prosperous Sacramento County offers its residents an exciting variety of lifestyle choices and recreational, sporting, and cultural pursuits. Whether you choose to live city or country, nothing is too far away in this smallish county, whether it be rafting on the American River or attending a performance at the Sacramento Opera.  

The State Capitol is a cultural, dining, and shopping Mecca, with a sophisticated arts, theater, music and dance scene that includes the Sacramento Theater Company, the Studio Theater, CSU Theater and Dance, the Sacramento Ballet and the Sacramento Opera. The Crocker Art Museum is a superb facility and there are several good art galleries in town, including the upscale Artist’s Collaborative Gallery, maintained by 30 regional artists, the Exploding Head in downtown Sacramento and the 20th Street Gallery, voted the best gallery in town for 2003 and 2004 by the Sacramento News & Review. 

There are several excellent museums in this historic region, including the State Capitol Museum, the California State Railroad Museum and the Discovery Museum, to name but a few, and a number of interesting local attractions, including zoos at Sacramento and Folsom, Sutter’s Fort, and Fairytale Town, a fantastic non-profit family park that has over 20 child sized play worlds based on favorite nursery rhymes and children’s stories. 

There’s always plenty happening in Sacramento County, from yearly sporting events to local arts festivals, and the California State Fair at Sacramento is a huge draw in this agricultural region.  

Interesting Facts/Historic Buildings and Places
Spanish for “holy sacrament”, Sacramento was first visited by outsiders when Spanish explorers came through in the Seventeenth Century and claimed the land for their monarch. California passed to Mexico, and then to the American Government. In 1839 Johann Augustus Sutter settled at the confluence of the American and Sacramento Rivers. The Mexican government and Governor Alvarado granted 48,000 acres of land to Sutter, not realizing as they did so that they had given away a literal goldmine. In 1948 gold was discovered at Coloma, giving rise to one of the biggest gold rushes in history. California became a state in 1850 and Sacramento its capital in 1854. Many charming historical buildings and places still remain in the county and capital, including lovely Old Sacramento, the beautifully restored original Gold Rush settlement.
 

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