Sacramento, California

Area Profile

528,706 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Sacramento, in Sacramento County.

55out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 37% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 16 sources
Opportunity3,259th of 4,199 cities measured43
Schools3,576th of 4,162 cities measured21
GrowthTop 27% of 4,224 cities measured61
Housing affordability3,232nd of 4,218 cities measured52
ClimateTop 16% of 4,225 cities measured81
Physical resilienceTop 45% of 4,226 cities measured63
AccessTop 4% of 4,226 cities measured100
Economic stability2,728th of 4,226 cities measured50
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable cities measured: unemployment is 5.3% and the Opportunity signal places Sacramento in the bottom 22%.

In the public schools here, 31% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 22.0 students for every teacher.

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 2,397 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 25% on the prior year.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
528,706
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$87,321
Top 27% nationally
Density
5,360/sq mi
98.6 sq mi of land
Median age
36.0
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
California
Nearest major airport
MCC
8 mi · Mc Clellan Airfield
Median home value
$506,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.3% — higher than in all but 17% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment fell 2.1% over the past year, to 253,671 employed residents.

37% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 78% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsSacramento County, CA’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$71,72449th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftSacramento County, CA’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$73,67754th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$1,7462024 ACS 5-Year$87,321Top 27%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$7892024 ACS 5-Year$43,376Top 26%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year13.5%Bottom 40%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.4 min2024 ACS 5-Year26.5 minTop 49%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year37.1%Top 22%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year64.0%17th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 2026253,671Top 29%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−0.1%Top 47%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−2.1%Bottom 18%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceJuly 2026267,80371st percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year79.5%Top 46%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageSacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$77,150Top 25%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageSacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$59,750Top 21%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year1.8%89th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.2%Top 44%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20265.3%Bottom 17%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year19.7%85th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/077.33.6
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 5.3% in July 2026. It has been rising for the last 2 months, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202487k71k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $87,321 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides60,350$34,320
Management Analysts25,600$82,990
Fast Food and Counter Workers24,910$42,860
Registered Nurses23,590$171,460
Retail Salespersons22,970$38,100
Office Clerks, General21,340$48,940

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

31% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 44% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 22.0 students for every full-time teacher across 135 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
140
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
22.0
across 135 of them
Math proficiency
31.1%
Bottom 27% in California
Reading proficiency
44.1%
Bottom 21% in California
The 12 largest of 140 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Highlands Community Charter · charterHighlands Community Charter District11,71392.2——
C. K. McClatchy HighSacramento City Unified2,56925.234%51%
Inderkum HighNatomas Unified2,19424.732%58%
Grant Union HighTwin Rivers Unified1,98720.315%47%
Natomas Charter · charterNatomas Charter District1,85023.749%70%
California Innovative Career Academy · charterCalifornia Innovative Career Academy District1,72914.3——
Fortune · charterFortune District1,69818.546%45%
Hiram W. Johnson HighSacramento City Unified1,68221.811%26%
John F. Kennedy HighSacramento City Unified1,65220.629%50%
Valley HighElk Grove Unified1,62219.821%44%
Luther Burbank HighSacramento City Unified1,53518.714%41%
Westlake Charter · charterNatomas Unified1,49321.652%64%

72.9% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against California’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 9% above the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 109.1, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA Metro Area is up 20% over five years, and up 0.1% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $3,842 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.76% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $2,215, some 24% above the $1,779 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $2,215 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $88,600 a year, about 101% of the median household income here of $87,321.

The typical renter household here spends 33% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,779 a month.

A median home at $506,300 costs 4.4 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $116,193, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
109.1

Prices here run about 9% above the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
32.8%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.4×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$2,215
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,779
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$506,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Sacramento’s median household income of $87,321, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA Metro Area’s figure2023109.1Bottom 28%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+0.1%8th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+19.9%4th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+74.6%20th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year4.4Bottom 13%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year51.7%11th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1,5792024 ACS 5-Year212,48599th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,800Bottom 27%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$2,949Bottom 21%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$2,215Bottom 23%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$192024 ACS 5-Year$1,779Bottom 12%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$8,9382024 ACS 5-Year$506,30089th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$812024 ACS 5-Year$3,84282nd percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$2,5512024 ACS 5-Year$116,193Top 17%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.02%2024 ACS 5-Year0.76%34th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year32.8%Bottom 28%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±2982024 ACS 5-Year1,08099th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.5%57th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year5.2%40th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±9652024 ACS 5-Year12,16499th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

61/ 100
Top 27% of 4,224 published city profiles
The most recent move in permitting was upward, in a series running from 2020 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 2% since 2020, reaching 535,798 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 2,297 units authorized in 2025, up 12% on the prior year.

Federal tax returns show Sacramento County, which contains Sacramento, lost about 0.4% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $71,724, close to the $73,677 of households that moved out.

At 4.5 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
2,397
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
4.5
Top 31% nationally
Year over year
+25%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
41.7%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024536k525k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been rising for the last 3 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.4%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
27%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$71,724
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$73,677
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Placer County, CA 5,088 people · 10.0% of arrivals
  2. Yolo County, CA 3,384 people · 6.6% of arrivals
  3. San Joaquin County, CA 2,835 people · 5.6% of arrivals
  4. Alameda County, CA 2,736 people · 5.4% of arrivals
  5. Santa Clara County, CA 2,723 people · 5.3% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Placer County, CA 8,918 people · 16% of departures
  2. Yolo County, CA 2,795 people · 4.9% of departures
  3. El Dorado County, CA 2,695 people · 4.8% of departures
  4. San Joaquin County, CA 2,158 people · 3.8% of departures
  5. Yuba County, CA 1,669 people · 3.0% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. This is the figure for Sacramento County, CA. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2020202120222023202420254k2k
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−36%).

Weather & climate

9 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 94°F and January a low of 41°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 19.2 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 51, in the Moderate band, and about 15 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

30°50°70°90°110°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station SACRAMENTO 5 ESE, 2.9 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND3.9"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year842024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals19.2"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals0.0"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals41°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals94°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals91991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year152024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year512024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals29°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
51
Moderate on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
84
90th percentile index
Days above 100
15
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

63 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, earthquake and drought, with inland flooding alone responsible for 61% of it. Inland flooding is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

DroughtElevated
EarthquakeHigh
Heat waveModerate
WildfireModerate

Low or minimal exposure: inland flooding, landslide, volcanic activity, tornado, lightning, hail, strong wind, winter weather, cold wave, coastal flooding, ice storm, hurricane, tsunami, avalanche.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Violent crime
720
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
2,305
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Sacramento's police department reported 720 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, higher than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 2,305.

Sacramento County records 4.6 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 8.7 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 29.2 per 100,000 residents in Sacramento County.

Homicide
4.6
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
8.7
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
29.2
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
11.7
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Sacramento’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around Sacramento (Sacramento County) rather than Sacramento itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

7 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Mc Clellan Airfield at 8 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year93.5%Top 32%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle8 miTop 18%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle7Top 13%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year4.3%Top 32%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Mc Clellan AirfieldMCC8 mi10,599 ft
Sacramento IntlSMF11 mi8,605 ft
Stockton MetroSCK48 mi10,245 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
55
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Other cities in Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
Elk GroveSacramento County179,15563Elk Grove vs Sacramento
RosevillePlacer County155,95560Roseville vs Sacramento
Arden-ArcadeSacramento County94,99453Arden-Arcade vs Sacramento
Citrus HeightsSacramento County86,99551
FolsomSacramento County83,91668
Rancho CordovaSacramento County81,84959
CarmichaelSacramento County76,94854
RocklinPlacer County73,32764
DavisYolo County66,97852
WoodlandYolo County61,85448
West SacramentoYolo County54,92751
LincolnPlacer County52,95659

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Sacramento side by side with a similar place.

Sacramento vs VancouverSacramento vs Everett

Moving to Sacramento from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

ZIP codes in Sacramento

18 ZIP areas

Every ZIP area in Sacramento with census figures of its own, largest first. The ones linked below diverge enough from the city as a whole to carry a full profile; the rest track Sacramento closely, so their figures are here rather than on a page that would repeat this one. An Area Score is calculated for published profiles only, which is why it is blank on those rows.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
9582383,607$66,895$401,50049
9582246,569$86,801$466,000—
9583143,545$100,751$642,70058
9583342,265$97,792$464,400—
9583542,004$114,468$607,200—
9583840,677$68,349$389,200—
9582640,165$82,127$463,300—
9583436,245$101,260$557,600—
9582035,410$78,436$416,900—
9582433,083$56,477$345,300—
9581526,658$60,097$346,500—
9581822,581$118,196$790,200—
9581919,737$136,306$753,500—
9581619,225$90,839$839,700—
9581714,219$64,212$543,900—
9583212,850$82,318$399,600—
9581412,355$58,284$633,200—
958118,810$80,827$761,000—