The list of best cities in America for young families includes three Sacramento neighbors.

For those of us already lucky enough to live in these communities, this news isn’t a revelation: if you have a young family, California is still the place to be, and several Northern California cities rank in the top ten for best cities to raise a family in the state, including some of Sacramento’s closest neighbors. 

In a comprehensive ranking by the website NerdWallet.com, Davis, Roseville, and Folsom ranked as some of the best cities for young families in California, as did nearby Walnut Creek and Yuba City. Clovis, California actually ranked #1, and from there it was largely a mix of suburbs of Los Angeles and San Diego.

The rankings were based on three main criteria:

1)  Quality of public education

NerdWallet rated the city’s public schools using academic performance rankings from GreatSchools, a nonprofit that that compares a school’s standardized test scores with the state average. According to their system, schools are rated from 1-10, with 10 being the best possible public school system.

2)  Affordability

Of course a lot of young families would love to live in San Francisco, Beverly Hills or Santa Barbara, but the cost is too prohibitive for most. So they factored in median home values in each city along with average mortgage payments, ongoing monthly home costs, utilities, fuel, insurance, real estate taxes, and other typical costs. In this ranking, the more affordable a city was for a young family, the higher it’s number.

3)  Growth and prosperity

The third part of NerdWallet’s equation was based on the economic climate – including the average household income and income growth over the last ten years. Cities that earned a ten offered the best chance of people to land good paying jobs, prosper financially, and provide for their family.

Here are the cities in Northern California near Sacramento that ranked in the top ten:

#2 Folsom, California

For those of us who have spent time in Folsom, it’s no surprise it ranks so high on this list of best cities. Only 20 miles east of Sacramento, Folsom offers just about everything you’d look for in a home for your family – fantastic schools, a vibrant economy bolstered by tech firms like Intel, Verizon and Jadoo Power and a median household income near $100,000.

Folsom is a dream come true for nature enthusiasts and outdoor sportsman alike, with endless miles of hiking trails, cycling and running paths that extend all the way to Sacramento and beyond, Lake Folsom for swimming, boating, and waterskiing, and an hour drive up the hill to Lake Tahoe. On the weekend, historic Old Folsom is jumping with music, street fairs, and a great arts and restaurant scene. While it’s not cheap, Folsom is also considered reasonably affordable for a young family, with real estate that holds its value well and always is in demand. With all the great things going for Folsom, the only thing we wonder is why it’s not #1!?

#8 Roseville, California

The next Sacramento neighbor on the list, Roseville offers a little bit of everything for young families. Good-paying jobs aren’t far away, with the economy invigorated by local employers Hewlett-Packard and Kaiser Permanente. Roseville consistently boasts some of the best public schools in the state. It’s also one of the safest communities in California, and residents enjoy the mature trees, well-planned parks (41,000 acres!), recreation facilities (31 miles of trails!), a revitalized downtown, and just a touch of Gold Rush history. Roseville is no stranger to laudatory lists, as CNN ranked in as one of America’s Top 100 Small Cities to live in.

#9 Davis, California

While Roseville and Folsom sit east of the capitol city of California, #9 on NerdWallet’s list, Davis, lies directly west. The sleepy academic community of Davis is home to the prestigious University of California at Davis, bringing in arts, culture, and a Berkeley-esque flavor to the small traditionally agricultural city of less than 70,000 people. Davis is only 15 minutes across the causeway from downtown Sacramento and within commuting distance of San Francisco. The public schools are fantastic, it has one of the lowest crime rates in California, and Davis has a healthy job market. It’s also one of the greenest cities in the country, and always named one of the most bicycle friendly cities in the U.S.

Davis would rank higher on the list if it weren’t for its high real estate prices, with a median home value of $560,500 – a stretch to afford for many of its residents. But values also don’t ever seem to go down in Davis, where families enjoy a haven of white-picket fence, small-town, green living among modern culture and academia.

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We live, work, and play in these communities, so we’d love to help your family relocate there, too. Please contact us for more information or to see what homes are available at what prices anywhere in Sacramento, Placer, and El Dorado counties!

Neighborhood and city spotlight: Rocklin, California.

Like a modern oasis within the traditionalism of Placer County, the city of Rocklin, California has been one of the fastest-growing cities in California, with a population increase of 64% since 2000 to it’s present level of 60,000 residents. Nestled in the rolling foothills with views of the Sutter-Butte mountain range to the west and Sierra Nevada’s to the northeast, Rocklin is still close enough to downtown Sacramento for a quick commute.

Mix in great local parks and recreation, a superlative school system and safe neighborhoods, and residents weren’t surprised when Family Circle magazine named Rocklin one of its “10 Best Towns” for families in America, the only one on that list in California.

Location and demographics:

Rocklin is an incorporated city sitting in South Placer County, only 25 minutes from downtown Sacramento. Encompassing zip codes 95678 and 95765, Rocklin has an ideal position adjacent to the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the Sutter-Butte range, and is less than 2 hours from San Francisco and the same to Lake Tahoe. Rocklin neighbors Roseville, Granite Bay, Loomis, and Lincoln.

Rocklin as a community:

Rocklin is one of the most safest and family-friendly communities in all of California, with plenty of arts, culture, restaurants, and outdoor activities galore. According to the city’s mission statement, they want Rocklin “to become a city that provides its citizens with exceptional quality of life while maintaining its small town sense of community.” So far, they’ve accomplished just that.

A huge attraction for families is that Rocklin is one of the safest communities in all of California. In fact, when it comes to property crime, there is only a 1 in 57 chance of becoming a victim in Rocklin, compared to 1 in 38 for all of California. And violent crime is almost nonexistent, with only a 1 in 933 chance of becoming a victim in Rocklin, compared to 1 in 249 in the rest of California.

The history of Rocklin:

Rocklin was first settled during Gold Rush era, like most of the region. When the transcontinental railroad was completed, Rocklin became a popular stop in 1864 and was officially incorporated in 1893. By 1910, gold was no longer being panned from the hills but the granite industry was in full swing, attracting Irish, Spanish, and Finnish immigrants. In fact, granite unearthed in Rocklin was used to construct the state capitol building in Sacramento and many other buildings in San Francisco.

The first residential development sprung forth when the 30,000-acre Whitney Ranch was subdivided in the 1950s and 60s, giving birth to the Sunset Whitney neighborhood. High tech firms and other industries began relocating to Rocklin in the 1980s, attracted by its educated work force, low cost to do business, and proximity to Sacramento. Since then, the Stanford Ranch, Whitney Oaks, and Whitney Ranch neighborhoods have been well developed.

Schools and education:

The public school system is the pride of Rocklin, with four schools rated 10 out of 10 on GreatSchools.com: Valley View Elementary, Rocklin Academy, Sunset Ranch Elementary, and Rocklin Academy.

With 42% of Rocklin adults over 25 earning bachelor’s degrees or higher, it’s one of the best-educated communities in the region. Rockling is also home to Sierra College and William Jessup University.

Real Estate and home sales in Rocklin:

Rocklin has approximately 20,933 households, 66.3% of which are owner occupied, leaving 33.7% inhabited by renters.

Homes in Rocklin sell quickly and prices stay on the rise, thanks to the city’s desirable location, exemplary school system and low crime rates. When priced accurately, homes often sell in only a few days for asking price or higher. The current median home price in Rocklin is $401,700, which is a healthy 4.9 percent increase since the previous year.

If you’d like to hear more about homes for sale in Rocklin, or live there and would like to find out how much your house is realistically worth, please contact The Alfano Group because we’d love to help!

Jobs and the economy in Rocklin:

The economic base of Rocklin has a strong foundation with plenty of job opportunities for the 30,00 residents in the workforce. With a paltry unemployment rate of 4.3%, significantly lower than the rest of Placer County (6%), Sacramento (6.9%), and California (7.3%), Rocklin is home to plenty of companies and employers like the Rocklin Unified School District, Oracle America, Inc., United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI), and Esurance Insurance Services, Inc., all employing more than 500 people. The city did see its long-established granite mining business end in Rocklin in 2004, but jobs are picking up in the fields of solar, education, and media.

The median household income in Rocklin is $79,678, well ahead of the national media of $58,328 and healthy, even for Sacramento and Placer County.

Things to do and see in Rocklin:

Rocklin residents have plenty of entertainment and recreation options. The Rocklin Community Theater, the Rocklin Event Center, Rocklin Historical Society Museum, Maidu Interpretive Center, Aerospace Museum of California, and Joss House Museum all keep visitors occupied with arts, culture, history, and science exhibits and events.

But if exercise and laughter with the whole family is more your thing, the Scandia Family Fun Center, LaserCraze, Indoor Trampoline Park, and Johnson-Springview Park won’t disappoint. Golfers can tee off at the scenic 18-hole Rocklin Golf Course or Whitney Oaks Golf Club, open to the public. In fact, If you love the outdoors, Rocklin will never disappoint, with 30 well-kept public parks for, including an 18-hole Frisbee golf course.

If you’re in the mood for a great dinner, Rocklin boasts some of the best restaurants in the region, including The Chef's Table, Via Roma Pizzeria, Out of Bounds Brewery, Anatolia Table, and the Granite Rock Grill.

Famous Rocklin residents:

Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Home Improvement

Karyn White, pop singer

Jeffrey Leonard, retired MLB All-Star and professional baseball player, most notably for the San Francisco Giants

Kevin Martin, shooting guard of the Minnesota Timberwolves

Geoff Petrie, General Manager of the Sacramento Kings

Brotha Lynch Hung, rapper

John Romero, video game designer and programmer. Co-founder of id Software, creator of the video games Wolfenstein 3D, Doom (series), Quake (video game)

Where Sacramento ranks for just about everything.

Our beloved Sacramento has a rare gift of polarizing opinions - people seem to either love it or hate it.  But how does The City of Trees rank against the rest of the country?  We dug through dozens of articles, polls, blogs, and reports to come up with the most comprehensive Sacramento rankings…for just about everything you can imagine.

Of course this isn't a perfect science.  Some of these data sources included areas surrounding Sacramento, some did not.  Polls tended to rank out of 30 large metropolitan areas, 100 cities, or 200+ cities.  So to make this information easier to digest, I highlighted the bad stuff in red and the really good stuff in blue.

Some of these might surprise you!  Have fun!

Where Sacramento ranks for just about everything:

Lifestyle and livability.

#5 Worst places to live in the country.

#6 Most fun, affordable city.

#12 Americas dirtiest cities

#18 Worst run cities in America.

#91 Best places to live.

Economy, financial, and jobs.

#2 Retirement financial readiness.

#3 Fastest growing new car market.

#6 Worst places to find a job.

#7 Prosperity index.

#10 Best for women in workforce.

#12 Clean economy jobs.

#34 Best credit scores.

#38 Small business friendly cities.

#60 Access to jobs via public transit.

#97 Labor market for young adults.

#259 Charitable giving.

Online and tech.

#1 Top digital small city (Roseville.)

#4 Fastest growing for tech jobs.

#5 Best airport for tech travelers.

#9 Most likely for identity theft.

#10 Most vulnerable to online threats.

Pets.

#2 Pet friendly city in America.

#7 Best city for cats.

#9 postal service dog attacks

#11 Most pampered pet cities.

#34 Best for dogs (no wonder why there are so many postal attacks!)

Happiness and friendliness.

#1 Happiest workers in mid sized cities.

#7 Happiest young professionals.

#8 Most stressed out cities.

#9 Funniest cities.

#10 Unfriendliest cities.

Bikes, parks, and recreation.

#1 Best family-friendly place to fish and boat.

#7 Public park access and spending.

#7 Park score index.

#10 Best for urban forests.

#11 best city bike paths.

#11 Bicycle commuters.

#24 Walkable cities.

#25 Best bike cities.

Sports.

#1 Most valuable minor league baseball teams.

#4 Best baseball cities.

#23 Sacramento Kings ranked as a basketball team out of 30 NBA teams.

#47 America’s manliest sports city.

#122 Sacramento Kings as a professional sports franchise. (Dead last!)

Crime, theft, and safety.

#1 Least calamitous cities for natural disasters and storms.

#6 Watercraft thefts.

#13 Vehicle thefts.

#23 Most dangerous cities for pedestrians.

#53 Best city for crime.

#140 Safest driving cities.

#348 Highest crime cities in America. (Out of 437.)

Affordability and housing.

#1 Biggest housing inventory contraction.

#2 Market for housing recovery.

#3 Hottest housing market.

#6 Home affordability.

#10 Best destination for your vacation dollar.

#21 Yuppie price index.

#50 Gas prices.

Education.

#3 Library of the year voting.

#10 Smartest cities.

#46 Best college bang-for-the-buck.

#66 Sacramento State college ranking.

#84 Most eLiterate (Kindles, Nooks, eBooks, smartphones, etc.)

Health.

#1 City for bedbug pest termination calls.  (Yuck!)

#2 Most eye healthy cities.

#3 Healthiest eaters.

#5 Highest ozone days.

#7 Healthiest cities.

#8 Most stressful cities.

#10 American Fitness Index.

#11 Most glutunous cities.

#17 Healthiest city for kids.

#20 Most caffeinated cities.

#44 Most sleepless cities.

#72 Asthma capitals.

#88 Cities for well being.

#99 Allergy capitals. (99 out of 100)

Dating, gender, and social life.

#11 Best city for staying young.

#11 Best cities to be a woman.

#16 City for people 35 and younger.

#20 Cities with the most handsome men. (Ranked last out of 20 cities!)

#31 Most single city.

#40 Best city for dating.

#43 America’s most manly cities. (Haha!)

#48 Most romantic cities.

Funny and interesting.

#4 GTL’s! Social media check-ins for gyms tanning salons, and laundry mats. (Great!)

#4 Best cities for nerds. (Atlanta, Seattle, and Portland are top.)

#30 most generous tippers (Average tip is 18.7%, below the national average of 19.2%.)

#4 Best cities to be a chicken (ranked by number of backyard chicken coops.)

#8 Most redneck cities.

#9 Top marijuana friendly cities.

#15 Vainest city. (A lot of selfies!)

#47 America’s luckiest city. (A stat compiled from lottery winners, golf hole-in-ones, and lightning strike victims!)