Sutter County, California
County
County of Sutter
Images, from top down, left to right: Sutter Buttes terrain, Live Oak Blvd near Pennington Road in the City of Live Oak, downtown of Yuba City
Seal
Interactive map of Sutter County
Location in the state of California
Country	United States
State	California
Region	Sacramento Valley
Metro area	Sacramento metropolitan area
Incorporated	February 18, 1850[1]
Named for	John Augustus Sutter
County seat	Yuba City
Largest city	Yuba City
Government
• Type	Council–CAO
• Body	Board of Supervisors
• Chair	Mike Ziegenmeyer
• Vice Chair	Karm Bains
• Board of Supervisors[2]	Supervisors Nicholas Micheli Dan Flores Mike Ziegenmeyer Karm Bains Mat Conant
• County Administrator	Steve Smith
Area
• Total	608 sq mi (1,570 km2)
• Land	602 sq mi (1,560 km2)
• Water	6.1 sq mi (16 km2)
Highest elevation	2,120 ft (650 m)
Population  (April 1, 2020)[3]
• Total	99,633
• Density	160/sq mi (63/km2)
Time zone	UTC-8 (Pacific Time Zone)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-7 (Pacific Daylight Time)
Congressional district	1st
Website	www.co.sutter.ca.us

Sutter County is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 99,633.^[3] The county seat is Yuba City.^[4] Sutter County is included in the Yuba City, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the Sacramento-Roseville, CA Combined Statistical Area. The county is located along the Sacramento River in the Sacramento Valley.

History

The Maidu were the people living in the area of Sutter County when European settlers arrived.^[5]

Sutter County was one of the original counties of California, created in 1850 at the time of statehood. Parts of the county were given to Placer County in 1852.

Sutter County is named after John Augustus Sutter, a German native born to Swiss parents. He was one of the first Europeans to recognize the Sacramento Valley for its potential in agriculture. His Hock Farm, established in 1841 on the Feather River just south of present-day Yuba City, was the site of the first major farm in the Central Valley, and used extensive slave labor from Natives in order to function.^[6]

Sutter obtained the Rancho New Helvetia Mexican land grant, and called his first settlement New Helvetia (which included the present day city of Sacramento). In 1850, Sutter retired to Hock Farm when the gold rush led to him losing his holdings in Sacramento.

Sutter County is the birthplace (Yuba City, 1858) of John Joseph Montgomery, who was the first American to successfully pilot a heavier-than-air craft, 20 years before the Wright Brothers, and who held the first patent for an "aeroplane."

In the 1890s, Sutter County was one of the two prohibition counties in California; the other was Riverside County. Both outlawed saloons and sale or consumption of alcohol in public.^[7]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 608 square miles (1,570 km²), of which 602 square miles (1,560 km²) is land and 6.1 square miles (16 km²), comprising 1.0%, is water.^[8] It is the fourth-smallest county in California by total area. Some 88 percent of the county is prime farmland and grazing land.

Sutter County is home to the Sutter Buttes, known as the "World's Smallest Mountain Range." This volcanic formation provides relief to the otherwise seemingly flat Sacramento Valley.

Bordered by the Sacramento River on the west and the Feather River on the east, Sutter County has 240 miles (390 km) of levees. The Sutter Bypass, which diverts flood waters from the Sacramento River, cuts through the heart of Sutter County.

Adjacent counties

• Butte County - north
• Yuba County - east
• Placer County - southeast
• Sacramento County - south
• Yolo County - southwest
• Colusa County - west

National protected areas

• Butte Sink National Wildlife Refuge (part)
• Sutter National Wildlife Refuge

Sutter County also has the State Feather River Wildlife Area, consisting of the Nelson Slough, O'Connor Lakes, Abbott Lake, Shanghai Bend, and Morse Road Units in Sutter County. Also, a 1,795-acre (7.26 km²) State Park in the Sutter Buttes. In addition, there are the state public trust lands of the Feather, Bear and Sacramento rivers as well as smaller streams including Butte Creek and Butte Slough.

Transportation

Major highways

• State Route 20
• State Route 70
• State Route 99
• State Route 113

Public transportation

Yuba Sutter Transit operates local bus service, as well as commuter runs to Downtown Sacramento. The Amtrak Thruway 3 bus also provides daily connections to/from Sacramento.

Airports

Sutter County Airport is a general aviation airport located just south of Yuba City. The closest major airport is in Sacramento.

Politics

Voter registration statistics

Cities by population and voter registration

Overview

Sutter is a strongly Republican county in presidential and congressional elections. The last Democrat to win the county was Franklin Roosevelt in 1940. It was the only county in the whole state to give a majority to George H. W. Bush in 1992.