Sacramento is the oldest incorporated city in California, settled between the confluences of the Sacramento and American rivers. It was founded in 1849 and there are many reminders of the history of the city including Sutter's Fort, Old Sacramento, and remnants of the original ground level of Sacramento. It experienced explosive growth when gold was discovered in 1848 in nearby Coloma, and the gold rush that followed was the largest human migration in history. Currently it has a population of 490,000 in the city and over two million in the metropolitan area.

The pace of life is somewhat slower than in other large Californian cities, and the people are generally warm and friendly. According to Time magazine Sacramento is the most diverse city in the USA. The city used to be an affordable place, but it suffered from the San Francisco Bay Area's dot com rise and fall, and real estate went from undervalued to overvalued. The market is correcting itself so property values in most neighborhoods have leveled off while others are dropping to more reasonable valuations.