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Placer County, California | |
|---|---|
 .jpg)  Images from top, left to right: The Auburn Courthouse, a panorama of a forested area, Lake Tahoe in Kings Beach | |
 Flag  Seal | |
 Interactive map of Placer County | |
 Location in the state of California | |
| Coordinates: 39°04′N 120°44′W / 39.06°N 120.73°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| Regions | Sacramento Valley, Sierra Nevada |
| Metro area | Greater Sacramento |
| Incorporated | April 25, 1851[1] |
| Named for | Placer mining, a reference to the area being a center of the California Gold Rush |
| County seat | Auburn |
| Largest city | Roseville |
| Government | |
| • Type | Council–CEO |
| • Body | Board of Supervisors[2]
|
| • Chair | Suzanne Jones |
| • Vice Chair | Bonnie Gore |
| • County Executive Officer | Jane Christenson (Acting) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 1,502 sq mi (3,890 km2) |
| • Land | 1,407 sq mi (3,640 km2) |
| • Water | 95 sq mi (250 km2) |
| Highest elevation | 9,044 ft (2,757 m) |
| Population (2020) | |
| • Total | 404,739 |
| • Density | 270/sq mi (100/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−8 (Pacific Time Zone) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−7 (Pacific Daylight Time) |
| Area codes | 530, 916, 279 |
| FIPS code | 06-061 |
| GNIS feature ID | 277295 |
| Congressional district | 3rd |
| Website | www |
Placer County (/ˈplæsər/ PLASS-ərr; Spanish for "sand deposit"), officially the County of Placer, is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 404,739.[4] The county seat is Auburn.[5]
Placer County is included in the Greater Sacramento metropolitan area. It is in both the Sacramento Valley and Sierra Nevada regions, in what is known as the Gold Country. The county stretches roughly 65 miles (105 km) from Sacramento's suburbs at Roseville to the Nevada border and the shore of Lake Tahoe.
Etymology
The discovery of gold in 1848 brought tens of thousands of miners from around the world during the California Gold Rush. In addition, many more thousands came to provide goods and services to the miners. On April 25, 1851, the fast-growing county was formed from parts of Sutter and Yuba Counties with Auburn as the county seat. Placer County took its name from the Spanish word for sand or gravel deposits containing gold. Miners washed away the gravel, leaving the heavier gold, in a process known as "placer mining".
History
Gold mining was a major industry through the 1880s, but gradually the new residents turned to farming the fertile foothill soil, harvesting timber and working for the Southern Pacific Railroad. Auburn was settled when Claude Chana discovered gold in Auburn Ravine in May 1848, and it later became a shipping and supply center for the surrounding gold camps. The cornerstone of Placer's courthouse, which is clearly visible from Interstate 80 through Auburn, was laid on July 4, 1894. The building was renovated during the late 1980s and continues to serve the public with courtrooms, a sheriff's office and the Placer County Museum. Roseville, once a small agricultural center, became a major railroad center and grew to the county's most populous city after Southern Pacific Railroad moved its railroad switching yards there in 1908.
Loomis and Newcastle began as mining towns, but soon became centers of a booming fruit-growing industry, supporting many local packing houses. Penryn was founded by a Welsh miner, Griffith Griffith, who established a large granite quarry. Rocklin began as a railroad town and became home to a number of granite quarries. Lincoln and Sheridan continue to support ranching and farming. Lincoln also is the home of one of the county's oldest businesses, the Gladding, McBean terra cotta clay manufacturing plant, established in 1875.
The 1960 Winter Olympics were hosted in Squaw Valley, in Placer County.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 1,502 square miles (3,890 km2), of which 1,407 square miles (3,640 km2) is land and 95 square miles (250 km2) (6.4%) is water.[6] Watercourses in Placer County include the American River and Bunch Creek. 40.96% of Lake Tahoe's surface area is in Placer County, more than in any of the four other counties in which it lies.[7]
The county is typically divided into three regions; “South Placer” in the Central Valley and the Sierra Nevada foothills south of Auburn, “Gold Country” which consists of the Sierra Foothills around Auburn, Colfax, and Foresthill, and the Sierra Nevada which consists of all areas east of Foresthill and northeast of Colfax (including the Lake Tahoe region). Roughly 3/4ths of the population lives in South Placer, Roseville being the primary job and retail center of the county. Auburn and Lincoln are the main secondary commercial centers.
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
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1860 | 13,270 | — | |
| 1870 | 11,357 | −14.4% | |
| 1880 | 14,232 | 25.3% | |
| 1890 | 15,101 | 6.1% | |
| 1900 | 15,786 | 4.5% | |
| 1910 | 18,237 | 15.5% | |
| 1920 | 18,584 | 1.9% | |
| 1930 | 24,468 | 31.7% | |
| 1940 | 28,108 | 14.9% | |
| 1950 | 41,649 | 48.2% | |
| 1960 | 56,998 | 36.9% | |
| 1970 | 77,306 | 35.6% | |
| 1980 | 117,247 | 51.7% | |
| 1990 | 172,796 | 47.4% | |
| 2000 | 248,399 | 43.8% | |
| 2010 | 348,432 | 40.3% | |
| 2020 | 404,739 | 16.2% | |
| 2023 (est.) | 423,561 | [8] | 4.7% |
| U.S. Decennial Census[9] 1790–1960[10] 1900–1990[11] 1990–2000[12] 2010[13] 2020[14] | |||
2020 census
| Race / Ethnicity | Pop 2010[13] | Pop 2020[14] | % 2010 | % 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White alone (NH) | 265,294 | 272,471 | 76.14% | 67.32% |
| Black or African American alone (NH) | 4,427 | 6,440 | 1.27% | 1.59% |
| Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) | 2,080 | 2,010 | 0.60% | 0.50% |
| Asian alone (NH) | 19,963 | 34,776 | 5.73% | 8.59% |
| Pacific Islander alone (NH) | 697 | 967 | 0.20% | 0.24% |
| Some Other Race alone (NH) | 603 | 2,091 | 0.17% | 0.52% |
| Mixed Race/Multi-Racial (NH) | 10,658 | 25,356 | 3.06% | 6.26% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 44,710 | 60,628 | 12.83% | 14.98% |
| Total | 348,432 | 404,739 | 100.00% | 100.00% |
Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.
2011
| Population, race, and income | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total population[15] | 343,554 | ||||
| White[15] | 290,923 | 84.7% | |||
| Black or African American[15] | 4,587 | 1.3% | |||
| American Indian or Alaska Native[15] | 2,654 | 0.8% | |||
| Asian[15] | 20,515 | 6.0% | |||
| Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander[15] | 750 | 0.2% | |||
| Some other race[15] | 11,478 | 3.3% | |||
| Two or more races[15] | 12,647 | 3.7% | |||
| Hispanic or Latino (of any race)[16] | 43,268 | 12.6% | |||
| Per capita income[17] | $35,583 | ||||
| Median household income[18] | $74,645 | ||||
| Median family income[19] | $90,446 | ||||
Places by population, race, and income
| Places by population and race | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Type[20] | Population[15] | White[15] | Other[15] [note 1] |
Asian[15] | Black or African American[15] |
Native American[15] [note 2] |
Hispanic or Latino (of any race)[16] |
| Alta | CDP | 549 | 97.6% | 2.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.4% | 9.8% |
| Auburn | City | 13,476 | 90.4% | 6.7% | 1.2% | 1.0% | 0.7% | 6.6% |
| Carnelian Bay | CDP | 289 | 100.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Colfax | City | 1,999 | 92.1% | 5.0% | 2.7% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 4.1% |
| Dollar Point | CDP | 1,091 | 98.4% | 1.6% | 0.0% | 0.1% | 0.0% | 8.9% |
| Dutch Flat | CDP | 114 | 100.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 3.5% |
| Foresthill | CDP | 1,823 | 84.5% | 7.2% | 2.1% | 0.0% | 6.1% | 0.6% |
| Granite Bay | CDP | 22,201 | 88.0% | 5.3% | 5.2% | 0.4% | 1.2% | 5.3% |
| Kings Beach | CDP | 3,136 | 95.7% | 2.8% | 0.0% | 0.3% | 1.2% | 61.3% |
| Kingvale ‡ | CDP | 0 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Lincoln | City | 40,177 | 79.0% | 11.6% | 6.2% | 2.2% | 1.0% | 18.7% |
| Loomis | Town | 6,511 | 92.2% | 3.1% | 3.7% | 0.8% | 0.2% | 3.1% |
| Meadow Vista | CDP | 3,095 | 92.5% | 2.9% | 1.5% | 0.0% | 3.0% | 2.7% |
| Newcastle | CDP | 1,166 | 87.7% | 7.5% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 4.9% | 10.5% |
| North Auburn | CDP | 13,184 | 83.0% | 10.2% | 4.9% | 1.1% | 0.8% | 16.2% |
| Penryn | CDP | 665 | 99.1% | 0.0% | 0.9% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Rocklin | City | 55,713 | 83.1% | 6.0% | 8.2% | 1.7% | 1.1% | 10.5% |
| Roseville | City | 116,613 | 81.4% | 7.7% | 8.4% | 1.7% | 0.8% | 15.1% |