Fair Oaks is an unincorporated community in Sacramento County, CA. It has no city government: the county runs it, and the Census counts it as its own place.

What it's like to live in Fair Oaks

Fair Oaks is an unincorporated community in California with household incomes running above the national average and a highly educated workforce. Those factors carry real weight for anyone weighing where to move next.

The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Fair Oaks deals with rent well above the national average, home prices well above the national average, commute times longer than most cities, and air quality that falls short of national benchmarks.

The good

  • Higher-than-average incomes
  • Highly educated workforce

The not so good

  • Rent well above the national average
  • High home prices
  • Above-average commute times
  • Air quality concerns
  • High student-teacher ratio
  • Hot summers

How Fair Oaks compares

Median household income

Fair Oaks$116,975
California avg$99,122
US$80,734

Median rent (per month)

Fair Oaks$1,910
California avg$2,036
US$1,413

Median home value

Fair Oaks$683,000
California avg$734,700
US$332,700

What it takes to move to Fair Oaks

Based on Fair Oaks's median rent, home value and household income

To rent

$3,820

up front: first month plus a typical one-month deposit

  • Income to keep rent under 30%: $76,400 a year
  • 49% of Fair Oaks renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent

To buy

$136,600

a 20% down payment on the median home

  • With 10% down: $68,300
  • Homes cost 5.8× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)

Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.

The details

Cost of living▲ 35% above US

$1,910/mo median rent

Rent is expensive here, at $1,910 a month median and well above the national average. This is the kind of city where housing costs deserve serious budgeting before committing to a move. Home prices are steep, with a median around $683,000. Renting first to get a feel for the city before buying is often the more practical route.

Median home value $683,000 · 49% of renters cost-burdened

Job market

5.0% county unemployment

Unemployment in Sacramento County is 5.0%, somewhat above the national average of 4.3%. Lining up work before the move is the safer route. That's the county-wide rate; BLS doesn't measure a place this size on its own.

Sacramento County (county-wide)

Safety

473 violent crimes per 100k, whole jurisdiction

Fair Oaks doesn't have its own police department, so there's no crime rate for it alone. The figures shown are for the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office jurisdiction as a whole, which runs above the national average for violent crime and covers many communities. Individual neighborhoods can differ a lot from that overall rate.

Property crime 1357/100k · Policed by Sacramento County Sheriff's Office (county-wide rate) · 2025 data

Getting around▲ 14% above US

30 min average commute

Commutes run about average, at 29.7 minutes. Fine day to day, but it adds up over a year, and where someone lives relative to where they work starts to matter. 7 in 10 workers drive to work; 24% work from home.

How workers get to work

Drive alone
65%
Work from home
24%
Carpool
7.6%
Other
1.4%
Walk
1.3%
Public transit
1.1%

Climate

Summers are hot and humid, with highs regularly hitting 92°F, and winters are chilly but manageable, with lows around 42°F. It's a dry climate with limited rainfall.

Average month

High °FLow °FPrecip (in)
30°50°70°90°110°4"Jan: 3.87" precipitationFeb: 3.63" precipitationMar: 2.82" precipitationApr: 1.44" precipitationMay: 0.86" precipitationJun: 0.21" precipitationJul: 0.00" precipitationAug: 0.02" precipitationSep: 0.15" precipitationOct: 0.93" precipitationNov: 1.78" precipitationDec: 3.49" precipitationJJan: high 57°F, low 41°FFFeb: high 62°F, low 44°FMMar: high 68°F, low 47°FAApr: high 74°F, low 49°FMMay: high 81°F, low 54°FJJun: high 89°F, low 59°F94°JJul: high 94°F, low 61°FAAug: high 94°F, low 61°FSSep: high 89°F, low 59°FOOct: high 79°F, low 53°FNNov: high 65°F, low 45°F41°DDec: high 56°F, low 41°F

30-year averages, 1991–2020

Education & workforce▲ 35% above US

49% bachelor's degree or higher

The population is well-educated, with 49% holding college degrees. That points to a strong professional base and generally a healthy local economy.

Schools

6 public schools inside the boundary

There are 6 public schools inside the boundary and 7 private schools. The student-to-teacher ratio is 22:1, above the national average of 16:1.

Parks & recreation

The nearest national park or historic site is Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial (59 miles away). There are 8 national parks and sites within a day's drive.

Bottom line

Fair Oaks's strongest points are household incomes running above the national average and a highly educated workforce; the main tradeoffs are rent well above the national average and home prices well above the national average. A year of median rent ($1,910/mo) equals 20% of the median household income here, about the same as the 21% typical nationwide. It tends to suit remote workers (24% of workers here already work from home) and college-educated professionals. It may be a harder fit for renters on a tight budget.

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