Relocating from Southern California?

The Sacramento Valley is a great place to relocate to. Its central location, affordability, fantastic school systems, and recreational opportunities make it a perfect place to escape the congested roadways and large populations of Southern California.

Affordability

A notable difference between the Sacramento Valley and Southern California is the contrast between affordability and cost of living. In Sacramento County, 45% of people can afford the median priced home versus Los Angeles County (30%) which is just below California as a whole (31%). Some of the other counties in Southern California see an affordability index even below Los Angeles, like Orange at 22% and Ventura (29%) while Sacramento's neighbor, Placer, enjoys a 46% affordability rate.

See the full graph below as presented by C.A.R.

pages-from-09-29-2016_expo_forecast_affordability

Housing Affordability Index
SOURCE: CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®

A Less Crowded Option

One of the advantages that the Sacramento Area has over Southern California is the population differences. Los Angeles County alone has nearly 675% the population of Sacramento County and the population density is almost 70% more than the latter. Furthermore, Orange County is comparable in size to Sacramento County and has twice the population of Sacramento County. While its population may not seem as large as one would expect, San Francisco is both a city and county, (the entire county is just the city of SF) so its population of 800,000+ is all located within 47 square miles making it by far the most densely populated county.

Of the major cities in California, Sacramento (490,712) is the 6th largest by population. Los Angeles (3,971883) sits at the top of the list with San Diego (1,394,948), San Jose (1,026,908), San Francisco (864,816) and coming in just above Fresno (520,052) rounds out the top 5.

The list below shows the top 30 counties by population. The top 5 counties are all in Southern California, followed by 2 counties from the Bay Area, and finally Sacramento County. Placer County is #22 and El Dorado is #29.

	County	Population	Square Miles	Population Density (people per square mile)
1	Los Angeles County	10,170,292	4,060 Sq. Miles	2,505.0
2	San Diego County	3,299,521	4,204 Sq. Miles	784.9
3	Orange County	3,169,776	790 Sq. Miles	4,012.4
4	Riverside County	2,31,026	7,208 Sq. Miles	327.6
5	San Bernardino County	2,183,133	20,062 Sq. Miles	106.1
6	Santa Clara County	1,918,044	1,291 Sq. Miles	1,485.7
7	Alameda County	1,638,215	738 Sq. Miles	2,219.8
8	Sacramento County	1,501,5335	966 Sq. Miles	1,554.2
9	Contra Costa County	1,126,745	720 Sq. Miles	1,54.9
10	Fresno County	974,861	5,963 Sq. Miles	163.5
11	Kern County	882,176	8,142 Sq. Miles	108.3
12	San Francisco City/County	864,116	47 Sq. Miles	18,400.3
13	Ventura County	850,536	1,846 Sq. Miles	460.7
14	San Mateo County	765,135	449 Sq. Miles	1,704.1
15	San Joaquin County	726,106	1,399 Sq. Miles	519.0
16	Stanislaus County	538,388	1,495 Sq. Miles	360.1
17	Sonoma County	502,146	1,576 Sq. Miles	318.6
18	Tulare County	459,863	4,824 Sq. Miles	95.3
19	Santa Barbara County	444,769	2,738 Sq. Miles	162.4
20	Solano County	436,092	828 Sq. Miles	526.7
21	Monterey County	433,898	3,322 Sq. Miles	130.6
22	Placer County	375,391	1,503 Sq. Miles	249.8
23	San Luis Obispo County	281,401	3,304 Sq. Miles	85.2
24	Santa Cruz County	274,146	446 Sq. Miles	614.7
25	Merced County	268,455	1,929 Sq. Miles	139.7
26	Marin County	261,221	520 Sq. Miles	502.3
27	Butte County	225,411	1,640 Sq. Miles	137.4
28	Yolo County	213,016	1.012 Sq. Miles	210.5
29	El Dorado County	184,452	1,712 Sq. Miles	107.7
30	Imperial County	180,191	4,175 Sq. Miles	43.2

SOURCE: Wikipedia "List of counties in California" and "List of largest California cities by population"

TL;DR

To make a long story short, the Sacramento Area is a great place to get the big city feel but without the big city populations.

Traffic Jams

Traffic is the price residents pay for living in big cities. A quick Google search of worst cities for traffic will heed dozens of list all with Los Angeles in the top 3. Business Insider published their list in March 2016 of the 5 cities that have the worst traffic in America. Number 1 on the list is Los Angeles, estimating that commuters need to allow 43 extra minutes for traffic and waste an average of 6.8 days per year due to congested roadways! The article is based off TomTom Traffic Index which tracks and ranks world traffic in 174 major cities. It lists Los Angeles as the 10th worst traffic city in the world. Now Sacramento is not without its fair share of traffic and since it has seen a lot of growth in the last decade or so, Sacramento's traffic has increased substantially. However, it is only 25th on the list of worth US cities for traffic and 121st on the world list. So while Sacramento doesn't have barren roads, it is still less congested than both Los Angeles and the Bay Area.

25 US Cities with the Worst Traffic

Los Angeles, CA
San Francisco, CA
New York, NY
Seattle, WA
San Jose, CA
Honolulu, HI
Miami, FL
Washington D.C.
Portland, OR
Chicago, IL
Houston, TX
Boston, MA
Atlanta, GA
San Diego, CA
Tampa, FL
Orlando, FL
Philadelphia, PA
Baton Rouge, LA
Nashville, TN
New Orleans, LA
Austin, TX
Las Vegas, NV
Denver, CO
Riverside, CA
Sacramento, CA

(According to TomTom Traffic Index)

25 World Cities with the Worst Traffic

Mexico City, Mexico
Bangkok, Thailand
Istanbul, Turkey
Rio de Janiero, Brazil
Moscow, Russia
Bucharest, Romania
Salvador, Brazil
Recife, Brazil
Chengdu, China
Los Angeles, United States
Saint Petersburg, Russia
Tianjin, China
Warsaw, Poland
Beijing, China
Rome, Italy
London, United Kingdom
Hangzhou, China
Marseille, France
Taipie, Tiawan
Chonqing, China
Changsha, China
Guangzhou, China
Shenzhen, China
Shenyang, China
Manchester, United Kingdom

(According to TomTom Traffic Index)

22.00 Minutes

Average commute time for Sacramento residents.

A survey conducted by the California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.) found that most people would choose the super power: make traffic disappear.

pages-from-09-29-2016_expo_forecast_traffic

Relocating from Southern California?

Affordability

Housing Affordability Index SOURCE: CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®

A Less Crowded Option

County

Population

Square Miles

Population Density (people per square mile)

1

Los Angeles County

10,170,292

4,060 Sq. Miles

2,505.0

2

San Diego County

3,299,521

4,204 Sq. Miles

784.9

3

Orange County

3,169,776

790 Sq. Miles

4,012.4

4

Riverside County

2,31,026

7,208 Sq. Miles

327.6

5

San Bernardino County

2,183,133

20,062 Sq. Miles

106.1

6

Santa Clara County

1,918,044

1,291 Sq. Miles

1,485.7

7

Alameda County

1,638,215

738 Sq. Miles

2,219.8

8

Sacramento County

1,501,5335

966 Sq. Miles

1,554.2

9

Contra Costa County

1,126,745

720 Sq. Miles

1,54.9

10

Fresno County

974,861

5,963 Sq. Miles

163.5

11

Kern County

882,176

8,142 Sq. Miles

108.3

12

San Francisco City/County

864,116

47 Sq. Miles

18,400.3

13

Ventura County

850,536

1,846 Sq. Miles

460.7

14

San Mateo County

765,135

449 Sq. Miles

1,704.1

15

San Joaquin County

Housing Affordability Index
SOURCE: CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®

Population Density
(people per square mile)