Sacramento is the capital of California, and the state’s sixth-largest city with approximately 466,500 residents. The city is rich in culture, with many museums and historically preserved buildings. Old Sacramento is a nostalgic reminder of the 1800s, consisting of cobbled streets and many historic sites such as the Lady Adams building, the B.F Hastings building, and the Big Four building. The city’s museums include the Crocker Art Museum, which is the oldest art museum west of the Mississippi River, the California Museum for History, Women, and the Arts, the California State Railroad Museum, and the California Automobile Museum. On the first Saturday in February of each year, Sacramento hosts a museum day, when 26 museums in the area offer free admission.
Sacramento’s economy was once heavily reliant on the mining and railroad industries. Today, the city’s economy is much more broadly based, with the largest employment sectors being government and transportation. Other important sectors include information, technology services, leisure and hospitality, education and health services, and construction. The city’s fastest growing employment areas include financial activities, professional and business services, as well as education and health services.
The Sacramento real estate market was hit fairly hard by the recent recession. The median sales price in the Sacramento area rose rapidly from 2002 to 2005, and peaked from 2005-2006 at about $350,000. Property values sharply declined from 2006 to 2009, with the median sales price dropping to about $120,000. Since 2009, property values have stabilized, making Sacramento a good location to purchase a home without having to worry about further declines in value.