Yolo County, California

Yolo County is a county in California, United States, about 15 miles northwest of Sacramento. It
had a population of 216,403 at the 2020 census, an estimated 224,410 by 2025, and covers 1,024
square miles (2,652 km2) centred near 38°33′N 121°44′W.

Woodland is the county seat; its postal code is 95695. The county holds 4 incorporated cities
and 12 unincorporated communities, none organised into civil townships since California abolished
them, and it runs on Pacific Time. Its FIPS code is 06113.

Towns & Villages in Yolo County

Yolo County has 16 named places on record: 4 incorporated cities and 12 unincorporated
communities with no local government of their own. CDP stands for census designated place;
Unincorp. covers small settlements with no formal boundary or recent census count.

Broderick and Bryte, two river-front settlements once listed on their own, are no longer
separate places. Both were absorbed when West Sacramento incorporated as a single city in 1987,
and their names now mark neighborhoods inside that city rather than distinct communities.

ZIP Codes

• 95616 — Davis (also covers the UC Davis campus and El Macero’s mail since 2006)
• 95695 — Woodland (also serves 95776, Woodland’s eastern side)
• 95691 — West Sacramento (also serves 95605, covering the old Broderick and Bryte areas)
• 95694 — Winters
• 95627 — Esparto
• 95937 — Dunnigan
• 95645 — Knights Landing
• 95653 — Madison
• 95697 — Yolo
• 95612 — Clarksburg
• 95637 — Guinda
• 95679 — Rumsey
• 95606 — Brooks
• 95607 — Capay
• 95698 — Zamora

El Macero lost its own ZIP code in 2006, when the Postal Service folded it into Davis’s
95616 zone; mail there now carries a Davis address.

Geography

Yolo County sits in California’s Sacramento Valley, on the west side of the Sacramento
River. Of its roughly 1,024 square miles, 1,015 are land and 8.9 are water, a small share held
mostly in the Sacramento River, Cache Creek and Putah Creek. The county’s western third rises
into the Capay Valley and the foothills of the inner Coast Range, while the eastern two-thirds are
flat, irrigated farmland. Cache Creek runs the length of the Capay Valley before reaching the
lowlands near Woodland, and Putah Creek forms much of the county’s southern edge with Solano
County.

Colusa County and Sutter County lie to the north, Sacramento County to the east, Solano County
to the south, and Napa County and Lake County to the west. Colusa County, Sutter County, Sacramento County, Solano County, Napa County and Lake County all border Yolo directly.

Demographics

Yolo County had a population of 216,403 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts the
county near 224,410. Davis and Woodland are the two largest communities, together holding more
than half the county’s residents. Median household income runs $91,752, below California’s
statewide figure of $95,521 (2023 ACS). Population density works out to roughly 221 people per
square mile of land, concentrated almost entirely in the four cities along the Interstate 80 and
Interstate 5 corridors, with the Capay Valley towns to the west far sparser.

Economy & Local Life

Educational services employs the most workers in the county, about 18,789 people, reflecting
the size of the University of California, Davis, which alone counts 25,227 employees and anchors
Davis’s economy. Health care and social assistance employs about 11,308 people and retail trade
about 10,155. West Sacramento’s Port of West Sacramento, an inland deep-water port on the
Sacramento River, ships rice out and brings cement in, and the city has drawn a cluster of food
and beverage companies to its riverfront. Clarksburg, on the Sacramento River’s Merritt Island,
is the center of the Clarksburg wine appellation, home to Bogle Vineyards. Cache Creek Casino
Resort, near Brooks, is run by the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation and is one of the county’s largest
single employers outside the cities. The county’s biggest annual event is the Yolo County Fair,
held each August in Woodland since 1935 and billed as California’s largest free-admission county
fair.

History

California’s first legislature created Yolo County on 18 February 1850, one of the state’s
original 27 counties at statehood. The name comes from the Patwin word Yo-loy, meaning a place
abounding in rushes, describing the tule marshes that once covered much of the valley floor.
Washington, on the Sacramento River across from Sacramento and now part of West Sacramento, served
as the first permanent county seat before repeated flooding forced a move. Woodland became the
county seat in 1862 and was incorporated in 1871.

The University Farm, established south of Davis in 1905 as an agricultural annex of the
University of California, became an independent campus in 1959 and grew into UC Davis, now the
county’s largest employer and the force behind Davis’s growth from a farm town into a city of
nearly 67,000.

Getting There

Interstate 80 crosses the county’s southeast corner through West Sacramento and Davis, and
Interstate 5 runs the length of the county’s east side through Woodland, Dunnigan and Zamora.
Interstate 505 branches off I-5 near Woodland toward Winters and the Bay Area. State Routes 16, 45,
84, 113 and 128 also cross the county.

• Sacramento — about 15 miles east of Woodland
• Vacaville — about 15 miles south of Winters
• Napa — about 35 miles southwest of Winters
• Fairfield — about 25 miles south of Winters

Sacramento International Airport, about 15 miles east of Woodland, is the nearest major
commercial airport. Amtrak’s Capitol Corridor and California Zephyr trains stop at the Davis
station on Second Street, connecting to Sacramento, the Bay Area and points east.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Yolo County located?
It sits in California’s Sacramento Valley, about 15 miles northwest of Sacramento, bordered by
Colusa, Sutter, Sacramento, Solano, Napa and Lake counties.

What is the population of Yolo County?
216,403 at the 2020 census, with an estimate near 224,410 by 2025.

How big is Yolo County?
1,024 square miles (2,652 km2), of which 1,015 square miles are land.

What is the county seat of Yolo County?
Woodland, county seat since 1862, is the seat of government though Davis is the more populous
city.

How many towns and cities are in Yolo County?
Four incorporated cities — Davis, Woodland, West Sacramento and Winters — plus 12
unincorporated communities including Esparto, Dunnigan, Knights Landing and Clarksburg.

What ZIP codes does Yolo County use?
95616 for Davis, 95695 for Woodland, 95691 for West Sacramento, 95694 for Winters, and smaller
codes for each Capay Valley and river community, listed above.

What is Yolo County known for?
The University of California, Davis; the Clarksburg wine appellation; and the Yolo County Fair,
California’s largest free-admission county fair, held every August in Woodland.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in California.