What big cities are near Sacramento, CA?

Within 100 miles of Sacramento: Oakland (68 mi southwest), San Francisco (75 mi southwest), San Jose (85 mi south).

Is it worth driving out of Sacramento to save sales tax?

Only on large purchases, and only where the seller is origin-sourced. Most states tax by delivery address, so a car or appliance delivered to Sacramento is taxed at the 8.75% local rate regardless of where you bought it.

Cities near Sacramento, CA

Quick answer

The nearest major metro to Sacramento is Oakland, CA, 68 miles southwest — roughly 1 hr 19 min by road. Its combined sales tax rate is 10.25% against 8.75% in Sacramento.

Within 25 mi

0covered metros

Within 50 mi

0covered metros

Within 100 mi

3covered metros

Within 250 mi

5covered metros

Distance to nearby metros

Great-circle distance from the Sacramento centroid (38.582, -121.493).

Metros near Sacramento, CA with straight-line distance, estimated drive time and combined sales tax rate
Metro	Straight line	Est. drive	Direction	Combined rate
Oakland, CA	67.9 mi	1 hr 19 min	southwest	10.25%
San Francisco, CA	75.0 mi	1 hr 27 min	southwest	8.625%
San Jose, CA	85.1 mi	1 hr 39 min	south	9.375%
Reno, NV	111.4 mi	2 hr 9 min	northeast	8.265%
Fresno, CA	151.7 mi	2 hr 56 min	southeast	8.35%

Source: Place centroids: USGS/Census public-domain coordinates · rates as published for 2026

How these distances are calculated

Straight-line figures are great-circle distances between incorporated-place centroids using the haversine formula on a 3,958.76-mile mean-radius sphere — exact to within a few metres for this purpose. Drive time is an estimate: road distance is modelled at 1.2× the straight line (the standard North American circuity factor) at 62 mph for trips over 60 miles and 35 mph below that. It is not a routed itinerary and ignores traffic, terrain and tolls.

Sacramento sales tax breakdown Distance and radius calculator