Housing & affordability
18% of the score · 38/100
D−
Median home value$506,300
Sacramento $589,500
Median rent$1,779/mo
Sacramento $1,819/mo
Cost-burdened households41%
Sacramento 38%
Sacramento
Sacramento County528,706 residents4 school districts
58
C
Suburbgrade score
11th of 34 Sacramento suburbs. Strong on amenities and cost of living, held back by housing & affordability.
58
Sacramento median 54
0 · F
A+ · 100
Launch-day rule. Residents is not counted for Sacramento yet: no poll responses so far. The overall score of 58 is computed on the other six categories, re-normalised to 100%. Answer the poll →
What living here is actually like
Written summary in preparation This page is waiting for its written summary, and for a person to check it. Until then it is excluded from search engines.
What Sacramento is like to live in, by category
Bars show Sacramento against Sacramento. Weights are published in full.Schools
18% of the score · 44/100
D
Within-state proficiency45th pct
Sacramento median 54th pct
Student–teacher ratio22.7
Sacramento median 22.6
Graduation rate87%
Sacramento median 90%
Cost of living
14% of the score · 74/100
B
Housing cost index94
Sacramento 100
Eff. tax rate0.76%
Sacramento 0.77%
Local sales tax8.75%
Sacramento median 7.75%
Commute & transport
14% of the score · 72/100
B−
Mean commute25.3 min
Sacramento 27.1 min
Under 30 minutes68%
Sacramento 63%
Transit stops / sq mi31
Sacramento median 2.1 · within 2 miles
Amenities
12% of the score · 91/100
A
Restaurants & cafés325
Sacramento median 53 · within 2 miles
Groceries12
Sacramento median 7 · within 2 miles
Parks90
Sacramento median 33 · within 2 miles
Employment & income
12% of the score · 44/100
D
Median household income$87,321
Sacramento $97,188
Unemployment6.6%
Sacramento 6.2%
Professional occupations44%
Sacramento 45%
Residents
12% of the score · inactive
—
No responses yet. Residents is excluded from the score until eight people answer.
Ask the people who live here
Twelve yes/no questions, one tap each. No dataset knows whether the yards are kept or whether anyone talks to their neighbours. Answers feed the Residents grade, which needs eight responses before it counts.
Nobody has answered for Sacramento yet. If you live here, you can be the first.
Is it quiet at night?
—
Do you feel safe walking after dark?
—
Can you walk to a grocery store?
—
Is it good for young children?
—
Are yards and streets well kept?
—
Tap either button to answer — no account neededAll twelve questions →
Better than Sacramento on housing & affordability
Sacramento's weakest grade is D−. Six suburbs are within 25 miles and score higher on the same four inputs.
SuburbHousingOverall
Granite Bay21 mi from SacramentoB+ 62 C El Dorado Hills24 mi from SacramentoB 61 C Folsom19 mi from SacramentoC 65 C+ Elk Grove11 mi from SacramentoC 60 C Lincoln23 mi from SacramentoC 60 C Rocklin20 mi from SacramentoC− 64 C+ Median home value: ACS 2020–24 · Ownership rate: ACS 2020–24
Common questions about living in Sacramento
Is Sacramento, CA a good place to live?
Sacramento scores 58 out of 100, 11th of 34 Sacramento suburbs. It is strongest on amenities and weakest on housing & affordability. Every weight behind that score is published on the methodology page.
Is Sacramento expensive to live in?
Cost of living grades B. The median home is $506,300, 14% below the Sacramento median, and the effective property tax rate is 0.76%. $1,779/mo is the median gross rent.
How good are the schools in Sacramento?
Schools grade D. The districts serving Sacramento sit at the 45th pct within-state proficiency percentile, with a 87% graduation rate and a 22.7 student–teacher ratio. Sacramento is served by Sacramento City Unified, Twin Rivers Unified, Natomas Unified School District and Elk Grove Unified School District. Proficiency is only ever compared inside the same state.
How long is the commute from Sacramento?
The mean commute is 25.3 min, with 68% of workers travelling under 30 minutes and 20% working from home. Transit density is 31 stops per square mile.
Can you walk anywhere in Sacramento?
Within two miles there are 12 groceries, 325 restaurants and cafés and 90 parks, which grades A on amenities.
Are the homes in Sacramento old or new?
The median home in Sacramento was built in 1977 — older than the Sacramento median of 1984. That is a median, so a town can be half post-war and half new-build and still land there. 66% of homes are houses rather than flats.
Every answer is built from the figures on this page, with their sources and as-of dates on the methodology page.