Yolo County, California


Yolo County, officially the County of Yolo, is a county located in the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Yolo County was one of the original counties of California, created in 1850 at the time of statehood. As of the 2020 census, its population was 216,403. Its county seat is Woodland. Yolo County is included in the greater Sacramento metropolitan area in the Sacramento Valley.

Etymology

In the original act of 1850, the name was spelled "Yola". Yolo is a Patwin Native American name variously believed to be a corruption of a tribal name, Yo-loy, meaning "a place abounding in rushes", the village of Yodoi, believed to be in the vicinity of Knights Landing, California, or the name of the chief of said village, Yodo.

History

Yolo County was one of the original counties of California, created in 1850 at the time of statehood.

Government

The county is governed by a board of five district supervisors as well the governments of its four incorporated cities: Davis, West Sacramento, Winters, and Woodland.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is covered by water.

Adjacent counties

Major highways

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    County roads

Addressing in Yolo County is based on a system of numbered county roads. The numbering system works in the following way:
  1. North–south roads have numbers from 41 to 117 and increase from west to east.
  2. East–west roads have numbers from 1 to 38A, and then from 151 to 161, and increase from north to south.
Each integer road number is generally apart, with letters occasionally designating roads less than apart. County roads entering urban areas generally become named roads once they cross a city boundary. Some examples include County Road 101 in Woodland being renamed Pioneer Avenue, and County Road 102 in Davis being named Pole Line Road.

Public transportation

The Port of Sacramento, now known as the Port of West Sacramento, is an inland port in West Sacramento, California, in the Sacramento metropolitan area. It is northeast of San Francisco, and is centered in the California Central Valley, one of the richest agricultural regions in the world.

Crime

This table includes the number of incidents reported and the rate per 1,000 persons for each type of offense.

Cities by population and crime rates

Politics

Yolo is a strongly Democratic county in presidential and congressional elections. The last Republican presidential candidate to win a majority in the county was Dwight Eisenhower in 1952, which is the longest Republican drought for any California county. In fact, since 1928, Eisenhower's win in 1952 was the only time the county was carried by the Republican presidential nominee.































Yolo County has been somewhat more likely to elect Republican governors since then.
In the United States House of Representatives, Yolo County is split between California's 4th and 7th congressional districts, represented by and, respectively.
In the California State Senate, the county is entirely with the 3rd Senate district, represented by.
In the California State Assembly, the county is entirely within the 4th Assembly district, represented by.
In June 1978, Yolo was one of only three counties in the entire state to reject Proposition 13.
In November 2008, Yolo was one of just three counties in California's interior in which voters rejected Proposition 8 to ban gay marriage. Yolo voters rejected Proposition 8 by a vote of 58.65 to 41.35%. The other interior counties in which Proposition 8 failed to receive a majority of votes were Alpine County and Mono County. In 2024, all three joined 11 other interior counties which voted in favor of Proposition 3, which repealed Proposition 8 and established an affirmative right to marriage in the constitution, with Yolo supporting Proposition 3 70.4% to 29.6%.

Cities by population and voter registration

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 216,403. The median age was 33.3 years. 20.9% of residents were under the age of 18 and 14.0% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 93.0 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 90.3 males age 18 and over.
The racial makeup of the county was 49.6% White, 2.8% Black or African American, 1.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 14.0% Asian, 0.5% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 15.7% from some other race, and 15.8% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 33.1% of the population.
92.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 8.0% lived in rural areas.
There were 76,594 households in the county, of which 32.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 28.5% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 23.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 80,188 housing units, of which 4.5% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 53.0% were owner-occupied and 47.0% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.9% and the rental vacancy rate was 3.5%.

Racial and ethnic composition

2010

The 2010 United States census reported that Yolo County had a population of 200,849. The racial makeup of Yolo County was 126,883 White, 5,208 African American, 2,214 Native American, 26,052 Asian, 910 Pacific Islander, 27,882 from other races, and 11,700 from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 60,953 persons.

2000 census

As of the census of 2000, 168,660 people, 59,375 households, and 37,465 families were residing in the county. The population density was. The 61,587 housing units had an average density of. The racial makeup of the county was 67.7% White, 2.0% Black or African American, 1.2% Native American, 9.9% Asian, 0.3% Pacific Islander, 13.8% from other races, and 5.2% from two or more races. About 25.9% of the population were Hispanics or Latinos of any race. By ancestry, 10.0% were of German, 6.6% English and 6.4% Irish descent according to Census 2000. About 68.5% spoke English, 19.5% Spanish, 2.1% Chinese or Mandarin, and 1.8% Russian as their first language.
Of the 59,375 households, 33.6% had children under 18 living with them, 47.6% were married couples living together, 11.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.9% were not families. About 23.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.3% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.71 and the average family size was 3.25.
In the county, the age distribution was 25.2% under 18, 18.3% from 18 to 24, 28.2% from 25 to 44, 18.9% from 45 to 64, and 9.4% who were 65 or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.6 males. For every 100 females 18 and over, there were 92.2 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $40,769, and for a family was $51,623. Males had a median income of $38,022 versus $30,687 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,365. About 9.5% of families and 18.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.0% of those under 18 and 7.4% of those 65 or over.

Education

Public schools

The county's public schools are managed by the Yolo County Office of Education.

Colleges and universities

Cities

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2010 census of Yolo County.
† county seat
RankCity/town/etc.Municipal typePopulation
1DavisCity65,622
2† 'WoodlandCity55,468
3West SacramentoCity48,744
4WintersCity6,624
5University of California DavisCDP5,786
6EspartoCDP3,108
7Monument HillsCDP1,542
8DunniganCDP1,416
9Knights LandingCDP995
10MadisonCDP721
11YoloCDP450
12ClarksburgCDP418
13GuindaCDP254
14Rumsey Indian Rancheria'AIAN77