Placer County, California

Placer County is a place in the U.S. state of California. It is officially called the County of Placer. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 404,739 people. The main city, called the county seat, is Auburn.

Placer County is part of the larger Greater Sacramento metropolitan area. It sits in two important regions: the Sacramento Valley and the Sierra Nevada mountains. This area is famous as part of the Gold Country. The county stretches for about 65 miles, from the suburbs near Roseville all the way to the border with Nevada and the beautiful shore of Lake Tahoe.

Etymology

Placer County was formed in 1851 from parts of Sutter and Yuba Counties. Its name comes from the Spanish word for sand or gravel deposits that contain gold. During the California gold rush, miners would wash away the gravel to find the heavier gold, a process called "placer mining". The county's seat is Auburn.

History

Gold mining was very important in Placer County during the 1880s. Over time, people started farming the rich soil, cutting timber, and working for the Southern Pacific Railroad. Auburn became a town when Claude Chana found gold there in May 1848. It grew as a place to send and get supplies for nearby gold mines. The county courthouse in Auburn was built on July 4, 1894, and after being updated in the late 1980s, it still has courtrooms, a sheriff's office, and a museum.

Roseville started as a small farming town but became a big railroad center after the Southern Pacific Railroad moved there in 1908, and it is now the largest city in the county. Other towns like Loomis, Newcastle, and Rocklin began with mining but later grew with farming and granite quarries. Lincoln and Sheridan are known for their farming and ranching, and Lincoln is home to a very old clay factory started in 1875.

The 1960 Winter Olympics took place in Olympic Valley, which is in Placer County.

Geography

Placer County is in California. It covers 1,502 square miles, with 1,407 square miles of land and 95 square miles of water. Important water areas include the American River and Bunch Creek. A big part of Lake Tahoe is also in Placer County.

The county has three main areas: South Placer in the valley and foothills, Gold Country around Auburn, Colfax, and Foresthill, and the Sierra Nevada mountains to the east. Most people live in South Placer, where Roseville is a major center. Auburn and Lincoln are also important towns.

Adjacent counties

• Nevada County - north
• Washoe County, Nevada - northeast
• Carson City, Nevada - east
• Douglas County, Nevada - southeast
• El Dorado County - south
• Sacramento County - southwest
• Sutter County - west
• Yuba County - northwest

National protected areas

• Eldorado National Forest in part
• Tahoe National Forest in part

Demographics

Placer County is home to many people. In 2020, the population was 404,739. About a quarter of the residents were children under 18, and another fifth were adults 65 or older. Most people lived in cities, while a smaller number lived in rural areas.

The racial makeup of the county was mostly White, with smaller groups of Black or African American, American Indian and Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, and people from two or more races. Some residents identified as Hispanic or Latino.

Politics, government, and policing

Placer County is governed by a five-person board of supervisors who are elected for four-year terms. They also appoint a county manager to oversee daily operations.

The Placer County Sheriff's Office is responsible for protecting courts, managing the jail, and providing police services to areas of the county that do not have their own police force. They also help with investigations and work with the city of Colfax and the town of Loomis.

In the past, Placer County often voted for Republican candidates. Since 1980, it has consistently supported Republican public officials and presidential candidates. In the U.S. House of Representatives, the county is part of California's 3rd district, represented by Kevin Kiley (I–Rocklin). In the California State Senate, the county is split among three districts. In the California State Assembly, it is also split among three districts.

Economy

Placer County has many jobs in different places. Some of the biggest places that employ people are listed in a report from 2010.

Placer County has a program called mPOWER Placer. This program helps people make their buildings use less energy and water. It started in March 2010 and is managed by the county’s Treasurer-Tax Collector’s Office.

Transportation

See also: Transportation in the Sacramento metropolitan area

Placer County has several major roads that help people travel, including Interstate 80 and many state routes like State Route 28 and State Route 49.

The county offers bus services through Placer County Transit, which runs along Interstate 80 between Alta and connects to Sacramento Regional Transit in Sacramento. Roseville has its own local bus service and a commuter route to Sacramento. There are also transit options connecting Auburn to Grass Valley through Nevada County Connects, and services in Truckee and Tahoe City along Lake Tahoe through Tahoe Truckee Area Regional Transit. Long-distance travel is possible with Greyhound and Amtrak.

For air travel, Placer County has three smaller airports for private planes: Lincoln Regional Airport, Auburn Airport, and Truckee-Tahoe Airport. The nearest big airport for commercial flights is Sacramento International Airport in Sacramento.

Communities

Placer County has several cities and towns. The cities include Auburn, which is the county seat, as well as Colfax, Lincoln, Rocklin, and Roseville. There is also one town called Loomis.

The county also includes many smaller places known as census-designated places, such as Alta, Carnelian Bay, Cedar Flat, and many more. There are also unincorporated communities like Applegate, Baxter, and Blue Canyon.

The list of these places is based on data from the 2020 census.

Education

Placer County has many school districts that help children learn from kindergarten through high school. Some of these districts teach all grades, like the Center Joint Unified School District, Rocklin Unified School District, Tahoe-Truckee Unified School District, and Western Placer Unified School District. Others focus only on older students, such as Placer Union High School District and Roseville Joint Union High School District. There are also districts that only teach younger children, like Alta-Dutch Flat Union Elementary School District and Auburn Union Elementary School District. Some schools, like Twin Rivers Unified School District, only include certain parts of the county for grades 9 to 12.