Sacramento, California

"Sacramento" redirects here. For other uses, see Sacramento (disambiguation).

Sacramento is the capital of the U.S. state of California. The governor and legislature of California are in Sacramento. About 520,000 people live in Sacramento. About 2,000,000 live in and around Sacramento.

Sacramento, California
State capital city
City of Sacramento
From the top to right: Downtown Sacramento; California State Capitol, Crocker Art Museum; Downtown Sacramento; Tower Bridge and the Sacramento Riverfront; California Supreme Court
Flag Seal
Nicknames:  "Sactown", "Sac", "City of Trees","River City", "Camellia City", "America's Most Diverse City"
Motto(s):  Latin: Urbs Indomita (English: "Indomitable City")
Location within Sacramento County in California
Sacramento Location within the United States Sacramento Sacramento (the United States) Sacramento Sacramento (North America)
Coordinates: 38°34′54″N 121°29′40″W
Country	United States
State	California
County	Sacramento
Region	Sacramento Valley
CSA	Sacramento-Roseville
MSA	Sacramento–Roseville–Arden-Arcade
Incorporated	February 27, 1850 (1850-02-27)
Chartered	1920 (1920)
Named for	Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist
Government
• Type	City Council
• Body	Sacramento City Council
• Mayor	Darrell Steinberg (D)
• City Council	Council Members Lisa Kaplan Shoun Thao Karina Talamantes Katie Valenzuela Caity Maple Eric Guerra Rick Jennings II Mai Vang
Area
• City	99.77 sq mi (258.41 km2)
• Land	97.68 sq mi (253.00 km2)
• Water	2.09 sq mi (5.41 km2)  2.19%
Elevation	30 ft (9 m)
Population  (2020)
• City	524,943
• Rank	35th in the United States 6th in California
• Density	5,374.11/sq mi (2,074.87/km2)
• Metro	2,397,382 (26th)
Demonym	Sacramentan
Time zone	UTC−8 (PST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−7 (PDT)
ZIP codes	942xx, 958xx
Area code	916 and 279
Interstates
U.S. routes
State highways
Website	cityofsacramento.org

Sacramento comes from Spanish and Portuguese for holy rite. A sacrament is a religious act that gives people divine grace (being liked or favored by God.)

Sacramento was started in 1848 by John Sutter. It was a very important place during the California Gold Rush. The Gold Rush was the time after gold was found in California. Many people came to California to find gold. They did this to make money. During the Gold Rush, Sacramento was where the railroad ended. It was also where the Pony Express stopped.

Sacramento is near where the American River meets the Sacramento River. This was important when Sacramento was founded. It meant that ships could bring things to Sacramento from the Pacific Ocean. Sacramento was a railroad town. This made Sacramento a port town. This made it a very important place for business.

The majority of Sacramento's foreign-born population are from Mexico, the Philippines, Vietnam, Ukraine and Laos.

The Sacramento River and the buildings in the background.

Old Town Sacramento

Demographics

2020 census

In the 2020 census, there were 524,923 people, 192,560 households, and 116,436 families living in Sacramento. The population density was 5,323.2 people per square mile (2,055.3/km²). There were 202,231 housing units. The breakdown by race was 34.8% White, 19.9% Asian, 13.2% Black, 1.4% Native American, 1.6% Pacific Islander, 15.3% from one other race, and 13.8% from two or more races. Hispanics and Latinos made up 28.8% of the people.

The median (middle) age was 35.4 years. The age breakdown was 22.3% under age 18, 64.0% from 18 to 65, and 13.8% over 65. The gender breakdown was 48.8% male and 51.2% female.

Of the households, 30.7% had children under age 18, 37.9% had a married couple, 8.9% had an unmarried couple, 32.0% had a woman with no partner, 21.2% had a man with no partner, and 29.5% had one person living alone. The average household size was 2.64 people.