Sacramento · CA
Oak Park, Sacramento: Neighborhood Guide
Oak Park is Sacramento's first suburb, laid out in 1887 around an oak grove, with early bungalows and the Broadway Triangle.
What is Oak Park?
Oak Park is a neighborhood southeast of downtown and Sacramento's first suburb. It is informally bounded by U.S. 50 on the north, Stockton Boulevard on the east, Highway 99 on the west and Fruitridge Road on the south. Its ZIP codes are 95817 and 95820.
Broadway and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, once Sacramento Boulevard, are the main streets. Numbered streets cross numbered avenues, and 35th Street was the neighborhood's second shopping street.
UC Davis Medical Center sits immediately north of Oak Park, on land that was once the State Fairgrounds.
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How did Oak Park grow up?
Developer Edwin K. Alsip subdivided the 230-acre William Doyle Ranch in 1887 and renamed it Oak Park, after an eight-acre grove of oaks at its center. He planned to divide the farm into smaller lots.
Growth waited for transit. Alsip founded the Central Street Railway in 1890, and its line ran from downtown out J Street and down to 35th Street and Fifth Avenue. Four of the city's seven downtown streetcar lines eventually ended in Oak Park.
The park at the end of the line became Joyland, with a roller coaster, a skating rink and a pool. Joyland burned in 1920. In 1927 Valentine McClatchy bought the land and gave it to the city as McClatchy Park, named for his father, the founder of The Sacramento Bee. In the 1960s freeway construction split the neighborhood's edges.
What types of homes are in Oak Park?
Oak Park's housing is mostly early 20th-century single-family homes on small lots. Homes for sale here are often described as 1900s and 1920s bungalows, with newer apartments and modern infill mixed in since 2010.
The city keeps an Oak Park historic district plan, so some blocks carry preservation rules. If a home sits inside a city historic district, exterior work such as windows, doors and porches usually needs preservation review before a permit.
A century-old house brings century-old systems. Plan for a sewer lateral check, a foundation look and an electrical review, and price any needed work into the offer.
How do you get around Oak Park?
Oak Park sits between two freeways. U.S. 50 runs along the north and Highway 99 along the west, so downtown is a short drive. Broadway and Stockton Boulevard are the main surface routes.
UC Davis Medical Center, on the old State Fairgrounds site, is immediately north of the neighborhood.
Which school district serves Oak Park?
Oak Park is served by Sacramento City Unified School District. Confirm the assigned school with the district directly.
What draws buyers to Oak Park?
Oak Park's commercial strip on Broadway, now called the Triangle District, has been rebuilt over the last two decades with restaurants and shops. The Guild Theater at 2828 35th Street was restored in 2003.
McClatchy Park, the old Joyland site, is the neighborhood's main green space. The Oak Park Farmers Market also runs in the neighborhood.
The location does the rest. Oak Park sits inside the city's older core, with downtown, Land Park and East Sacramento all a short drive away.
What should sellers in Oak Park know?
Oak Park prices vary more block to block than in most of the city, because renovated bungalows, original homes and new infill sit side by side. Pricing starts with sales on your own street and the level of updates, then the lot. If your home is a duplex or a rental, the City of Sacramento's tenant protection and rental inspection rules may apply before you list.
Surroundings is led by Maggie B. Hopkins, a real estate broker and a mortgage broker. We have a cash-buyer network for homes in any condition, and a full-market plan when updates are worth making. See selling your home in Sacramento.
Only in Oak Park and Tahoe Park
A landmark with a date on it.
A gateway arch at the Fifth Avenue entrance to McClatchy Park, installed in December 2016, repeats a sign that stood there in the early 1900s. It carries two dates, 1889 and 2016, and sits near the former streetcar terminus.
The numbers: a full year of sales
ZIP 95820 covers both Oak Park and Tahoe Park, so these numbers are for the two together.
Every neighborhood has a median, and in Sacramento the median only tells part of the story. Lot sizes vary. Eras mix. Custom homes sit beside tract homes. So even where the median is $401,550, there are one-of-a-kind homes that sell for far more, and the street, the lot and the details move the number.
Last year, 299 single-family homes sold in ZIP 95820 (October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026). The typical home was built in 1950, with 3 bedrooms and about 1,078 square feet, on a lot of about 5,663 square feet. Half of the sales landed between $355k and $480k, depending on lot size, condition, square footage and more, and the median was $401,550. In Oak Park and Tahoe Park, 11 of those 299 sales closed at $600k or more, and the highest reached $815k. Condos and townhomes aren't included. This is what happened, not what will happen. Ask us for today's numbers.
Source: MetroList, single-family homes that closed October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026. Any single-month figure elsewhere on this page is a separate, shorter snapshot.
Good to know before you look
Oak Park has a city-adopted historic district on Broadway between 33rd and 36th Streets, with its own city plan. Most building came after 1911, so we check the age of wiring, plumbing and sewer lines. We look these up for each address.
Ready to talk about Oak Park?
If you are buying your first home, see first-time buyers in Sacramento. If you are comparing nearby, read our guides to Curtis Park, Tahoe Park and Elmhurst. Then talk with Maggie. The Sacramento neighborhoods guide covers the rest of the city.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Oak Park in Sacramento?
Oak Park is southeast of downtown, informally bounded by U.S. 50, Stockton Boulevard, Highway 99 and Fruitridge Road. Its ZIP codes are 95817 and 95820.
Why is it called Oak Park?
Developer Edwin K. Alsip named it in 1887 after an eight-acre grove of oak trees at the center of the ranch he subdivided.
What types of homes are in Oak Park?
Oak Park is mostly early 20th-century single-family homes on small lots, many described as bungalows, with newer apartments and infill added since 2010.
What was Joyland?
Joyland was an amusement park at the end of Oak Park's streetcar line, with a roller coaster, skating rink and pool. It burned in 1920, and the site became McClatchy Park in 1927.
What school district serves Oak Park?
Oak Park is served by Sacramento City Unified School District. Confirm the assigned school with the district directly.
Is Oak Park a historic district?
The City of Sacramento keeps an Oak Park historic district plan. Ask city planning staff whether a specific address is inside a historic district before planning exterior work.
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