Sacramento grew as a result of the Swiss immigrant, John Sutter, who developed Sutter’s Fort which helped to protect the growing town. During the California Gold Rush it became an important distribution center and a terminus, and there are remnants of that history still left to see in Sacramento today. So if you’re interested in history this is a good place to live, but how does the city fair in terms of crime, education, employment, and cost of living?
Safety in Sacramento
The Sacramento Police Department takes care of people and property in the city, and their jobs are busier in some neighborhoods compared to others. Overall the Sacramento crime index is 58 percent higher than the California average, and Sacramento is safer than only 4 percent of the cities in the nation. Violent crime is worst – it’s 10 percent higher than the state average, and you have a 1 in 141 chance of being a victim of violent crime in the city. So this isn’t the safest place to live, though some neighborhoods are far better than others.
Employment and the Economy in Sacramento
Being the state capital the largest employer in Sacramento is the State of California, employing over 73,000 people, followed by Sacramento County who employ around 13,000 people. Despite these large employers unemployment levels are surprisingly high sitting at 10.9 percent in the city which is higher than the national average but lower than the California state average which is 11.1 percent. Poverty levels are surprising too – 20 percent of the population in Sacramento is considered to be living in poverty and that’s nearly 50 percent higher than the state average, and 62 percent higher than the national average. Perhaps the cost of living has something to do with this.
Cost of Living in Sacramento
California is renowned as an expensive place to live and Sacramento is no different. The city actually is a little more affordable than the state as a whole, with the cost of living coming in at 6.4 percent less than the state average, though it is 22.8 percent greater than the national average. As always for Californian cities it’s housing that costs the most – the median home value in Sacramento is 55 percent higher than the national average, though 30.5 percent less than the California average, so as California goes Sacramento isn’t too bad! The best thing about living in Sacramento is the cost of utilities – the utilities index is 9 percent below the national average, and 19 percent below the California average.
Schools and Education in Sacramento
Two school districts oversee the majority of schools in Sacramento: the Sacramento City Unified, and the Twin Rivers Unified districts. There is a total of 193 public schools, and 71 private schools in the city, plus 30 post-secondary places of education too, including Sacramento State, and the National University. Graduation rates are better than the national average in Sacramento, but not as high as state averages – 77.3 percent complete high school compared to 88.5 percent in California as a whole, however the number of students who complete a bachelors is actually higher in the city, standing at 23.9 percent compared to 16.9 in California, and 13.9 percent nationally.
Air Quality in Sacramento
Overall the air quality in Sacramento is okay compared to the state average – it sits at 6.9 percent below the California average, though it is greater than the national average. Looking at air quality information there’s actually a surprising number of days when the quality of air in the city is considered to be bad – 18 days in a year have unhealthy air quality, 35 days are poor, and 69 days moderate.
Crime levels and unemployment levels bring Sacramento down in terms of livability, but compared to California as a whole Sacramento is a more affordable place to live.
