Photo: Ray Bouknight from Sacramento, CA, USA · CC BY 2.0Yuba City’s library runs 13 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
Sutter County Library serves 100,110 people in and around Yuba City. Last year it lent 243K print books and media and logged 100K visits.
Yuba City’s library, in brief
California pays a big share
21% of the budget comes from the state, and 61% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Fewer visits than most libraries its size
Sutter County Library records 1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, below 91% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing holds up better, at 2.4 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Numbers are the library’s own report to the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024; Sutter County Library serves 100,110 people in and around Yuba City, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Yuba City’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Yuba City is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns, #305 of 448 in California. Yuba City is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Sutter County Library spends $16 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($57K–$94K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
150 community nonprofits are registered in Yuba City
2.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (44 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.4%
5.4% of Yuba City’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.9% in the typical California town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Yuba City’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Sutter County Library serves 100,110 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 66 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Sutter County Library system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
243K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 8 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
Sutter County Library, 750 Forbes Ave., Yuba City.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Sutter County Library branch.
New in Yuba City? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.36 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Yuba City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $1.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.6M budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 37,214 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Sutter County Library serves 100,110 people in and around Yuba City, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Yuba City.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Yuba City
Does Yuba City have a public library?
Yes. Sutter County Library, 750 Forbes Ave., serves 100,110 people in and around Yuba City (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sutter County Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Yuba City’s library?
It logged 1.0 visits and lent 2.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Yuba City’s civic life grade?
D Yuba City is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns on civic life, #305 of 448 in California. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Yuba City.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.