Sacramento County, California Population and Demographics

In this article, we'll explore the population statistics for Sacramento County, California, including popular demographics data like median age, number of households, household income, gender, employment and unemployment rates, occupations, religion, and more.

We are using the latest American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year survey data from the US Census Bureau, which is accurate up to 2021.

Table of Contents

Population

There is a lot of data that lets us see how many people live in Sacramento County, California. The most basic data is the total population, which is the total number of people living in Sacramento County, California. The estimated population of Sacramento County, California is 1,571,767 people, with a median age of 36.6.

We can look at the total population in Sacramento County over the last 5 years to see how much it has changed.

Year Population Change 5-Year Change
2021
1,571,767
+2.2%
+5.11%
2020
1,537,948
+0.88%
-
2019
1,524,553
+0.96%
-
2018
1,510,023
+0.98%
-
2017
1,495,400
 - -

Population of Sacramento County, California by Race and Ethnicity

We can also look at how the population has changed over the last 5 years by each of the race/ethnicity types as defined by the US Census Bureau.

Race 2021 2017 Change
White
42.9%
45.7%
 -6.13%
Black/African American
9.3%
9.5%
 -2.11%
Native
0.3%
0.4%
 -25.00%
Hispanic
23.8%
22.8%
 +4.39%
Asian
16.6%
15.1%
 +9.93%
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
1.1%
1.1%
 0.00%
Two Or More Races
5.6%
5%
 +12.00%
Other
0.4%
0.4%
 0.00%

This data can be very important for a number of reasons, including social and economic research, planning and development, and marketing to a multi-cultural population.

Note that the Native group includes both Native American and Alaskan Native people.

Population of Sacramento County, California by Age and Gender

The age and gender of a population is another interesting demographic statistic because it lets us track trends in the population over time. For example, we can see how the population has changed over the last 5 years by median age as a total, and also by male and female.

Year Total Male Female
2021 36.6 +0.55% 35.6 +1.14% 37.7 0%
2020 36.4 +0.55% 35.2 +0.57% 37.7 +0.53%
2019 36.2 +0.56% 35 +0.57% 37.5 +0.54%
2018 36 +0.28% 34.8 +0.58% 37.3 +0.54%
2017 35.9 - 34.6 - 37.1 -

The median age of Sacramento County, California gives you an idea of the age distribution, with half of the population being older than the median age and half being younger.

This can then be used to infer and compare against birth rates, parent ages, and more metrics to understand the population. For example, an increasing median age indicates an aging population, which can be a sign of a declining population in terms of birth rates and workforce participation.

Age 2021 2017
(Years) Male Female Male Female
0 to 9 101,747 +0.75% 99,109 -0.35% 102,500 98,752
10 to 19 101,102 +5.3% 95,087 +5.46% 106,530 100,356
20 to 29 110,768 -1.62% 109,483 -1.13% 108,976 108,246
30 to 39 104,764 +11.42% 105,248 +12.08% 117,247 118,533
40 to 49 94,937 +5.72% 98,307 +1.82% 100,406 100,093
50 to 59 94,324 +1.59% 101,519 -1.83% 95,771 99,663
60 to 69 69,755 +13.44% 81,938 +10.29% 79,600 90,685
70+ 53,283 +15.07% 74,029 +11.17% 61,778 82,631

Median Household Income

The latest median household income of Sacramento County, California is $76,422.00.

In simple terms, the median income is the middle income of a group of people. Half of the people in the group make more than the median income, and half make less. The median income is a good indicator of the overall income of a group of people, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more.

Median Income by Age

We can also look at the median income by age to see how the median income varies by age, and how it compares to the overall median income for Sacramento County.

  • Under 25
    $44,646.00
  • 25 to 44
    $78,890.00
  • 45 to 64
    $91,075.00
  • 65 and over
    $58,985.00

Average Household Income

Whenever we ask what is the average household income in Sacramento County, we are actually talking about the mean household income.

This is calculated by adding up all the incomes of all the households in Sacramento County, and then dividing that number by the total number of households. This is a good way to get a general idea of the average income of a group of people, but it can be skewed by a very high or very low incomes.

The average household income of Sacramento County, California is currently $99,141.00.

In terms of accurately summarizing income at a geographic level, the median income is a better metric than the average income because it isn't affected by a small number of very high or very low incomes.

If you had an area where the average income was greater than the median, it can mean that there is significant income inequality, with income being concentrated in a small number of wealthy households.

9.83% of households in Sacramento County are classed as high income households (making $200,000+ per year).

Household Income Tiers

The US Census Bureau divides households into income tiers based on the median income for the area. This is a good way to compare the income of Sacramento County against other areas.

  • Less than $24,999
    14.99%
  • $25,000 to $49,999
    17.44%
  • $50,000 to $74,999
    16.69%
  • $75,000 to $99,999
    13.65%
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    18.17%
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    9.24%
  • $200,000 or more
    9.83%

Per Capita Income

The per capita income in Sacramento County is $36,152.00.

Per capita income is the average income of a person in a given area. It is calculated by dividing the total income of Sacramento County by the total population of Sacramento County.

This is different from the average or mean income because it includes and accounts for all people in Sacramento County, California, including people like children, the elderly, unemployed people, retired people, and more.

Education Levels

We can also look at the education levels in Sacramento County to see how many people have a high school degree, a bachelor's degree, or a graduate degree.

Educational attainment is a good indicator of the overall education level of a population, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more to see how education levels affect income, unemployment rates, and more.

  • Master's degree or higher
    13.09%
  • Bachelor's degree
    36.18%
  • Some college or associate's degree
    12.86%
  • High school diploma or equivalent
    33.30%
  • Less than high school diploma
    4.57%

Employment

Employment rates are all based around the total population in Sacramento County that are over the age of 16.

The total population of Sacramento County over the age of 16 is 1,240,835.

Of those people, a total of 63.30% are working or actively looking for work. This is called the labor force participation rate.

The participation rate is a useful market measure because it shows the relative amount of labor resources available to the economy.

The employment to total population rate in Sacramento County is 59.10%.

Employment by Age

We can look at the employment rates by age to see how it compares to the overall employment rate.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
16 to 19 years 77,206 33.00% 18.90%
20 to 24 years 95,700 75.90% 9.70%
25 to 29 years 121,522 81.50% 8.00%
30 to 34 years 123,026 80.90% 6.60%
35 to 44 years 215,232 81.70% 5.60%
45 to 54 years 195,256 80.80% 5.10%
55 to 59 years 98,199 71.20% 4.40%
60 to 64 years 93,594 53.30% 4.90%
65 to 74 years 134,272 23.80% 4.80%
75 years and over 86,828 4.60% 5.60%

Employment by Race

Another very interesting employment statistic we can look at is the employment and unemployment rates by race in Sacramento County. The table below shows the rates for each of the ethnicity groups types defined by the US Census Bureau.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
White 675,051 62.60% 5.60%
Black or African American 118,936 61.50% 11.20%
American Indian and Alaska Native 8,683 59.60% 7.50%
Asian 209,751 62.40% 6.30%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 14,381 65.20% 8.70%
Other 106,011 69.00% 6.80%
Two or more races 108,022 66.40% 7.60%
Hispanic or Latino 266,826 67.50% 5.80%
Not Hispanic or Latino 572,036 61.70% 5.70%

Occupations

In this section we can look at the most common occupations in Sacramento County as well as the gender breakdown and earnings of them.

The total population of civilian employees that are 16 years old or older in Sacramento County is 732,788, with median earnings of $43,656.00.

Women in Sacramento County, California earning approximately 83.00% of the men's earnings.

Population Earnings
Total 732,788 $43,656.00
Male 382,053 $48,001.00
Female 350,735 $39,833.00

Occupations by Category

In the table below, we can break down the population and earnings even further by occupation. The list of occupation categories below will show you how many people are employed in each category and the median earnings of each profession.

Occupation Employed Earnings
Management 71,711 $78,692.00
Business and Financial 46,646 $65,811.00
Computer and Mathematical 33,363 $78,816.00
Architecture and Engineering 16,834 $90,785.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 9,177 $71,178.00
Community and Social Service 12,580 $47,143.00
Legal 11,014 $96,359.00
Educational and Library 39,554 $42,827.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 14,056 $43,880.00
Healthcare Practitioners 42,102 $82,271.00
Healthcare Support 29,622 $26,537.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 9,643 $35,616.00
Law Enforcement 6,214 $89,797.00
Food Preparation and Serving 42,461 $17,970.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 25,484 $27,065.00
Personal Care and Service 20,385 $20,940.00
Sales 70,805 $33,956.00
Office and Administrative Support 91,812 $38,898.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 2,744 $21,905.00
Construction and Extraction 34,716 $43,217.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 20,208 $45,452.00
Production 25,524 $37,516.00
Transportation and Material Moving 28,798 $40,473.00

Occupations by Gender

The table below shows the same occupations from the list above, but we have split them by male and female to see how many male and females work in each occupation, the median earnings, and the male to female ratio of earnings.

That last metric is important because it can be used to look at the gender pay gap between men and women.

Occupation Male Female
Population Earnings Population Earnings
Management 39,004 $84,753.00 32,707 $74,339.00
Business and Financial 19,458 $77,236.00 27,188 $61,644.00
Computer and Mathematical 21,781 $83,658.00 11,582 $71,323.00
Architecture and Engineering 13,161 $94,263.00 3,673 $81,535.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 4,121 $73,375.00 5,056 $70,213.00
Community and Social Service 4,142 $49,756.00 8,438 $45,628.00
Legal 5,039 $120,483.00 5,975 $82,641.00
Educational and Library 11,684 $50,257.00 27,870 $39,873.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 7,227 $46,722.00 6,829 $39,792.00
Healthcare Practitioners 12,543 $98,087.00 29,559 $76,673.00
Healthcare Support 6,458 $27,159.00 23,164 $26,400.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 7,355 $37,181.00 2,288 $31,154.00
Law Enforcement 5,090 $92,045.00 1,124 $81,795.00
Food Preparation and Serving 19,971 $19,603.00 22,490 $16,871.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 16,718 $31,676.00 8,766 $19,579.00
Personal Care and Service 4,561 $25,223.00 15,824 $20,409.00
Sales 37,374 $42,773.00 33,431 $26,342.00
Office and Administrative Support 28,242 $38,528.00 63,570 $39,028.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 1,864 $27,306.00 880 $14,594.00
Construction and Extraction 33,658 $43,284.00 1,058 $37,763.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 19,226 $46,575.00 982 $33,247.00
Production 18,507 $41,172.00 7,017 $28,713.00
Transportation and Material Moving 25,124 $42,363.00 3,674 $30,233.00

Households and Family Size

A household defined bu the US Census Bureau is a group of people who occupy a housing unit. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, group of rooms, or single room occupied as separate living quarters.

There are currently 559,036 households in Sacramento County, with an average household size of 2.77 people.

A family is defined as a group of two or more people related by birth, marriage, or adoption who live together in the same household.

There are 370,480 families in Sacramento County with an average family size of 3.37 people.

Households by Marital Status

The four categories of household by marital status are:

  • Married-couple family
  • Male householder with no spouse present
  • Female household with no spouse present
  • Nonfamily household

The table below shows the total number of households and families, with the average sizes of each.

Married Male Female Nonfamily
Total Households 257,741 34,870 77,869 188,556
Average Household Size 3.49 3.49 3.52 1.34
Total Families 257,741 34,870 77,869 0
Average Household Size 3.45 3.1 3.25 0

Poverty

Of the 370,480 families in Sacramento County, 9.60% are considered to be below the poverty threshold.

The table below shows the latest poverty thresholds in Sacramento County:

Household Size Poverty Threshold
1 Person $14,580.00
2 People $19,720.00
3 People $24,860.00
4 People $30,000.00
5 People $35,140.00
6 People $40,280.00
7 People $45,420.00
8 People $50,560.00

Housing

There are 583,858 housing units in Sacramento County, California.

The table below shows the split between occupied and vacant units:

Total Percentage
Occupied 559,036 95.75%
Vacant 24,822 4.25%

39.19% of the total 583,858 housing units in Sacramento County are rental units. This is approximately 228,827 properties.

For owner-occupied housing units, a total of 323,018 are occupied by the owner - or 55.32% of the total.

Rental Rates

The median rent for a property in Sacramento County is $1,434.00.

In the chart below, we can look at the number of rental properties in Sacramento County that fall into a particular rent range. These can then be used to compare with other areas, or to see how they have changed over time.

  • No rent paid
    7,191
  • Less than $500
    9,570
  • $500 to $999
    31,716
  • $1,000 to $1,499
    84,748
  • $1,500 to $1,999
    65,146
  • $2,000 to $2,499
    27,202
  • $2,500 to $2,999
    6,655
  • $3,000 or more
    3,790

Property Value

The median value of a property in Sacramento County is $398,300.00.

Just like with rental rates, we can look at the number of properties in Sacramento County that fall into a particular value range.

  • Less than $50,000
    9,343
  • $50,000 to $99,999
    4,652
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    5,283
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    8,735
  • $200,000 to $299,999
    49,610
  • $300,000 to $499,999
    152,648
  • $500,000 to $999,999
    84,127
  • $1,000,000 or more
    8,620

Property Age

We can also look at the age of properties in Sacramento County. The chart below shows the number of properties in Sacramento County that fall into a particular age range.

  • 1939 or earlier
    27,830
  • 1940 to 1949
    23,030
  • 1950 to 1959
    69,351
  • 1960 to 1969
    67,262
  • 1970 to 1979
    108,439
  • 1980 to 1989
    98,315
  • 1990 to 1999
    79,035
  • 2000 to 2009
    84,226
  • 2010 to 2013
    25,346
  • 2014 or later
    1,024

Vehicles per Household

The number of vehicles available per household can be a good indicator of the level of affluence in an area. The chart below shows the number of households in Sacramento County that have a particular number of vehicles available.

  • No vehicles available
    34,943
  • 1 vehicle available
    178,198
  • 2 vehicles available
    210,774
  • 3 or more vehicles available
    135,121

Commuting to Work

In this section, we can also look at how people in Sacramento County get to work. The chart below shows the number of people in Sacramento County that commute to work in a particular way.

28 minutes is the average travel time to work for people in Sacramento County.

These commute times can be compared to other date like income and educational levels to see how they relate to each other and if there are any trends in the data that might suggest a correlation.

  • Less than 5 minutes
    10,902
  • 5 to 9 minutes
    39,579
  • 10 to 14 minutes
    71,707
  • 15 to 19 minutes
    96,683
  • 20 to 24 minutes
    106,250
  • 25 to 29 minutes
    47,925
  • 30 to 34 minutes
    109,536
  • 35 to 39 minutes
    20,056
  • 40 to 44 minutes
    26,078
  • 45 to 59 minutes
    48,276
  • 60 to 89 minutes
    28,110
  • 90 or more minutes
    22,899

Summary

We've covered a LOT of demographic and population data for Sacramento County, California in this article! Hopefully you have found it very useful in your research of the area.

If you use any of the data found on this page, please consider linking back to USPopulation.org as the source and if you have any feedback or data requests, click here to contact us.

Places in Sacramento County, California

We have data for 42 places in Sacramento County, California. Click on a place below to see more information about the demographics of that place.