Elk Grove is a city in Sacramento County, California, United States. Located just south of the state capital of Sacramento, it is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 Census, the population of the city was 176,124. A 2021 Census estimate puts the population of the city at 178,997. Elk Grove has many wineries, wine cellars, and vineyards. Elk Grove was the fastest-growing city in the U.S. between July 1, 2004, and July 1, 2005, and is also presently the second-largest city in Sacramento County by population.
It is a general law city with a council/manager form of government. One of Elk Grove's largest employers is the Elk Grove Unified School District, which is the city's second-largest employer.
History
Spanish explorer Gabriel Moraga entered the region in 1808, naming the valley "Sacramento Valley" in honor of Sacramento, the Holy Sacrament in Spanish, giving the northerly city of Sacramento its name. A writer on Moraga's expedition wrote of the region: Canopies of oaks and cottonwoods, many festooned with grapevines, overhung both sides of the blue current. Birds chattered in the trees and big fish darted through the pellucid depths. The air was like champagne, and (the Spaniards) drank deep of it, drank in the beauty around them.
Elk Grove was founded in 1850 as a stage stop for travelers coming from Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area, when the Elk Grove Hotel and Stage Stop was opened by James Hall and the town was named after it. In 1868 the Western Division of the Central Pacific Railroad came through about a mile east of Elk Grove. At this new location another hotel was built to accommodate travelers and was named the Elk Grove Hotel.
In the following decades, Elk Grove remained a small farming community with little urban development. In the late 1980s, suburban development projects began to spring up around the community, specifically in the north near Sacramento. These were meant to serve Sacramento's population, as well as San Francisco commuters seeking a commuting community relatively near the San Francisco Bay Area where they could reside. Such changes triggered a period of rapid growth. On July 1, 2000, Elk Grove incorporated as a city. The city's growth peaked in 2004 and 2005, when Elk Grove was declared the fastest growing city in the US.
Apple Inc. manufactured its iMac line in Elk Grove as late as 2002. After many of those tasks were offshored in 2004, the facility was converted into the modern Apple Elk Grove campus. In 2018, Apple invested $4.2 million into expanding the office space, expanding its already established AppleCare support presence in the region.
In 2008, Elk Grove suffered heavily from the subprime mortgage crisis due to its suburban nature.
Demographics
Education
The Elk Grove Unified School District is the fifth largest school district in California and one of the fastest growing school districts in the nation. It also consistently ranks among the top school districts in the state. Located in southern Sacramento County, the district covers , one-third of the county. For the 2002–03 school year, the district served more than 52,500 students, and grew to 62,767 students in the 2016–2017 school year. Those students attend 40 elementary schools, 9 middle schools, 9 high schools and 7 alternative high schools.
There are also several private schools in town. A local community college, Cosumnes River College, offers both career training and a transfer program to four-year universities, such as the CSU system and UC system across the state of California. Located nearby are California State University, Sacramento and the University of California, Davis. Elk Grove is also the home of the private six-year Universalist college Quest Seminary. In 2013, California Northstate University College of Pharmacy, which offers a Doctor of Pharmacy degree program, relocated to Elk Grove (near Interstate 5).
Climate
Elk Grove is south of the state capital in Sacramento and experiences a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csa) with hot summers and cool winters. Summers are moderated by a cool Pacific Ocean breeze also known as the "delta breeze" which comes through the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta from the San Francisco Bay.