Sacramento metro, CA relocation guide
Moving to Placerville, CA
About Placerville
Placerville — "Hangtown" — is the county seat of El Dorado County, in the Sierra Nevada foothills where US-50 crosses SR-49 (elevation ~1,867 ft), incorporated May 13, 1854 (population 10,747 in 2020). A former Maidu settlement called Indak, it became "Dry Diggin's" after gold was found at Sutter's Mill in Coloma (1848), then earned the name Hangtown in 1849 after mob lynchings of accused robbers — the name stuck until temperance advocates got it changed to Placerville (from the placer gold deposits) at incorporation, when it was the third-largest town in California. The county seat moved here from Coloma in 1857. It's a central hub of the Mother Lode: the Pony Express route ran through (California Historical Landmark #701), and hard-rock mining history is on display at Gold Bug Park & Mine, a museum with an open, tourable mine. Just east, Apple Hill and Pleasant Valley (El Dorado AVA) are a center for wine production with 30+ wineries (Boeger, Lava Cap, Madroña), and the town hosts Placerville Speedway (clay oval, since 1965) and the Mountain Democrat, the oldest continuously published newspaper in California.
Home prices in Placerville
The median listing price in Placerville is $699,000.
Top places in Placerville
- Historic Main Street — Gold Rush-era brick storefronts and the 1898 steel Bell Tower (shown in both Commons photos below).
- Gold Bug Park & Mine — tourable hard-rock gold mine and museum.
- Apple Hill and Pleasant Valley wineries (El Dorado AVA) just east of town.
- Placerville Speedway — clay oval auto racing.
- El Dorado County Courthouse; Fountain-Tallman Soda Works museum.
- 37-mile El Dorado Trail (Folsom to Camino rail-trail, former railroad right-of-way).
Commuting from Placerville
- Drive: roughly 45–70 minutes to downtown Sacramento via US-50 west (approximate, traffic-dependent); about 45 miles.
- Transit: El Dorado Transit runs weekday commuter bus service to Sacramento, including the Route 20 bus to Iron Point Station (the eastern terminus of SacRT's Gold Line light rail).
- Thruway rail: Amtrak Thruway 20C provides a daily bus connection to Sacramento Valley Station (Capitol Corridor) and east to South Lake Tahoe.
Placerville FAQs
- What is the housing market like in Placerville, CA?
The median listing price in Placerville is $699,000. Median listing price (September 2026 research snapshot) - How is the commute from Placerville, CA?
Drive: roughly 45–70 minutes to downtown Sacramento via US-50 west (approximate, traffic-dependent); about 45 miles.
Town links
Schools
Transit
Official town resources. School report cards via the National Center for Education Statistics.