Yuba City — county seat of Sutter County, California

Yuba City is a city of 70,117 residents and the county seat of Sutter County, California, sitting at an elevation of 17.98 meters in the Sacramento Valley. Founded in 1849 by Samuel Brannan, Pierson B. Reading, and Henry Cheever on land purchased from John Sutter’s Rancho Nuevo Helvetia, it covers 39 square kilometers and operates under a Council-Manager government. The surrounding valley accounts for 80 percent of all prune production in the United States, and Sutter County alone encompasses over 165,000 acres of prime farmland. Perhaps less expected for a city of its size, Yuba City hosts what is considered the largest Sikh procession outside India each November, drawing an estimated 200,000 attendees.

Key facts

Country: United States
Type: city in the United States
Located in: Sutter County
Coordinates: 39.1347, -121.6261
Population: 70,117
Area: 39 km²
Elevation: 17.98 m
Founded: 1849

Founding and Early Settlement

In July 1849, Samuel Brannan, Pierson B. Reading, and Henry Cheever purchased land from John Sutter’s Rancho Nuevo Helvetia and laid out the city in a grid of blocks and squares, completing the plan by September of that year. The earliest map of the settlement, drawn up in September 1849, labeled the town ‘Yubu,’ a name that was later adjusted to ‘Yuba’ and eventually formalized as Yuba City.

Geography and the Sutter Buttes

Yuba City lies in the Sacramento Valley at coordinates 39.1347° N, 121.6261° W, at an elevation of 17.98 meters above sea level.

The Sutter Buttes hold deep significance for the indigenous Maidu and Wintun peoples, who call the range ‘Esto Yamani’ and ‘Onolai-tol,’ respectively. Both names translate to ‘Middle Mountain.’ The range is entirely surrounded by private property, and public access is available only through guided tours run by Middle Mountain Interpretive Hikes, offered in spring and fall.

In 1949, after a 26-year campaign led by the Yuba City Women’s Club, the range received its official name, the Sutter Buttes, in what ranks as one of the longest civic naming efforts in the region’s recorded history.

Agriculture and Economy

Agriculture anchors Yuba City’s economy. The city’s top crops include rice, plums, walnuts, peaches, and tomatoes, produced across Sutter County’s more than 165,000 acres of prime farmland. The Sacramento Valley as a whole, including Sutter County and Yuba City, produces 80 percent of the prunes grown in the United States.

Sunsweet Growers established its international headquarters in Yuba City in 1975 and distributes its products to more than 40 countries. The Sikh American community within Yuba and Sutter Counties plays a particularly large role in that output: a California state legislative resolution estimated that Sikh Americans in those two counties account for approximately 95 percent of peach farming and 60 percent of all prune farming locally.

The Sikh Community and Nagar Kirtan

The first Sikh family to settle in the Yuba-Sutter area was reportedly that of Puna Singh, arriving at the turn of the 20th century, making this one of the oldest Sikh communities in California. In the decades that followed, the Punjabi Sikh population grew substantially, and Yuba City came to hold the largest population of Sikh and Punjabi Americans in the nation, according to a California state legislative resolution.

In 1980, community leader Didar Singh Bains inaugurated the Sikh Nagar Kirtan parade after attending a similar event in Canada. The procession is held annually on the first weekend of November and is considered the largest Sikh procession outside India. The 2025 event, marking its 46th year, was expected to draw approximately 200,000 people over three days. Each year, community volunteers prepare between 200,000 and 250,000 free meals for attendees, an act of selfless service central to Sikh faith.

Downtown Architecture

The buildings of downtown Yuba City display a variety of historic architectural styles. Gothic Revival, Italianate, Classical Revival, and Victorian structures appear alongside one another, reflecting the city’s growth through successive decades of the settlement era.

Beale Air Force Base

Approximately 12 miles east of Marysville, near Yuba City, sits Beale Air Force Base. Established in 1942 as Camp Beale, the installation is home to the 9th Reconnaissance Wing, which operates the U-2 Dragon Lady high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft.

Government

Yuba City operates under a Council-Manager form of government. A five-member city council, elected at large to four-year terms, appoints a city manager to administer city affairs. The city is the principal city of California’s 1st Congressional District.

The 1955 Flood

On Christmas Eve 1955, floodwaters struck Yuba City in a disaster that prompted some of the first large-scale military helicopter rescue operations in U.S. history. A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter crew rescued dozens of victims stranded on rooftops and in treetops, a mission that became a landmark in aviation rescue history.

Did you know

The Christmas Eve flood of 1955 triggered some of the first large-scale military helicopter rescue operations in U.S. history. A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter crew pulled dozens of people from rooftops and treetops, and the mission became a landmark in aviation rescue history. (nationalcoastguardmuseum.org)
At the annual Nagar Kirtan festival, community volunteers serve between 200,000 and 250,000 free meals to attendees each year. The practice is an act of selfless service central to Sikh faith. (punjabidiaspora.ucdavis.edu)
The Sutter Buttes did not receive their official name until 1949, after the Yuba City Women’s Club had campaigned for the designation for 26 years, making it one of the longest civic naming efforts in the region’s history. (visityubasutter.com)
The Sutter Buttes are the only mountain range in the world that can be encircled in a single day by car or bicycle. The loop around the range measures approximately 40 miles. (visityubasutter.com)
The first Sikh family to settle in the Yuba-Sutter area was reportedly that of Puna Singh, who arrived at the turn of the 20th century, making the local Sikh community one of the oldest in California. (outlookindia.com)

Data sources

Data updated: 2026-10-27