In Sacramento, the hospital that matters to a buyer is the one in their health plan's network.
Key Takeaway
Sacramento's general hospitals are run by four systems: UC Davis Health, Sutter, Kaiser Permanente, and Dignity Health. Start your housing search with the system your health plan covers, then look near that specific campus. Houses near any campus go fast, so if you want room to negotiate, a condo or townhouse near the same campus is a better alternative.
Who This Guide Is For
You are shortlisting parts of Sacramento to buy in and want to know where the major hospitals are and how close your next home should be to the one your plan uses.
Sacramento Hospitals by Health System
Your health plan's provider directory, not distance, decides which campus you'll use for routine and planned care. The city's campuses split into two zones: a central cluster of UC Davis, Sutter and Mercy General, and the outlying Kaiser and Methodist campuses.
UC Davis Medical Center
UC Davis Medical Center, the region's academic medical center, is at 2315 Stockton Boulevard, Sacramento, CA 95817. It's the only state and county-designated Level I trauma center in Sacramento County. That means it provides the highest level of surgical care to trauma patients, with a full range of specialists and equipment around the clock. The trauma designation doesn't make it your in-network hospital for routine care.
Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento
Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento sits at 2825 Capitol Ave, Sacramento, CA 95816, in Midtown's dense grid. Parking there is hard. Before you count on a nearby home for an easy trip, drive over and park at the hour you'd usually arrive.
Kaiser Permanente's Sacramento and South Sacramento Medical Centers
Kaiser Permanente runs two medical centers at opposite ends of the city: one on Morse Avenue to the north and the South Sacramento Medical Center on Bruceville Road. For Kaiser members, that north-or-south choice is the main location decision. If you're not a Kaiser member, these campuses are mostly out of network outside emergencies, so buying near one for that reason alone doesn't help. In an emergency, California health plans must cover care at any emergency room, even out of network, and you generally can't be balance billed for it.
Dignity Health's Mercy General and Methodist Hospitals
Dignity Health operates Mercy General Hospital at 4001 J St in East Sacramento and Methodist Hospital of Sacramento at 7500 Hospital Dr. Methodist puts a Dignity campus in south Sacramento, which matters to buyers comparing south-city and Elk Grove searches. "Mercy" names three different Dignity hospitals in the region, so confirm the exact facility name in your plan directory.
Shriners Children's and the VA at Mather
Shriners Children's Northern California is at 2425 Stockton Blvd, Sacramento, CA 95817, next to the UC Davis campus. It provides specialty pediatric care including orthopedics, pediatric surgery and spinal cord care. The region's VA medical center is at Mather in Rancho Cordova, outside Sacramento city limits. Both take patients by eligibility or referral rather than serving the general public, so confirm you qualify before treating either as a reason to pick an area.
Buying a Home Near a Sacramento Hospital
Single-Family Homes Near a Campus
Across the city, single-family homes sell in a median 29 days at 99.5% of list price, and 33.4% go above list, so expect to compete for any detached house near a campus. With 2.8 months of supply, sellers have little reason to cut price. Your advantage comes from a clean, near-asking offer made quickly, not from discounts.
Condos and Townhouses Near a Campus
Condo values are down 4.2% over the year and sell at 97.5% of list price. That gives you room to ask for credits or a lower price on a unit within a short drive of your campus. Townhouses show a similar trend, though their recent figures rest on just 32 sales. Monthly HOA dues and any pending special assessments eat into that price advantage, so ask the HOA for both before you offer.
Living a Few Blocks from a Hospital
Close-in homes trade a short drive for ambulance routes and helicopter approaches. Visit the street at night and on a weekday. Note where the ambulance entrance is, ask neighbors about traffic, and read the seller's disclosures for any noted noise items. No public source maps helicopter flight paths by street, so you have to hear the air traffic yourself before you commit to a house under one.
How to Check a Hospital Before You Buy Nearby
Start by confirming the facility is in your health plan's provider directory. A trauma center or specialty clinic across the street does you no good if your insurance sends you across town for routine care. Next, look up the facility on the HCAI website for its current seismic rating and building data. Under state law, acute care buildings that don't meet seismic standards must be retrofitted, replaced or taken out of acute care use by January 1, 2030. Some hospitals with approved compliance plans can get extensions to no later than 2035. Finally, read the hospital's Medicare Care Compare page to see how its overall star rating is built.
How to Narrow Your Search
Start with your health system. If your plan uses Kaiser, the two Kaiser medical centers are your starting points; a PPO that includes Sutter, Dignity or UC Davis opens up the central cluster. Then pick a home type: houses near any campus need fast, near-list offers, while attached homes leave room to negotiate (see "Single-family homes near a campus" and "Condos and townhouses near a campus"). Next, decide how close is too close. If sirens would bother you, look a few blocks back (see "Living a few blocks from a hospital"). If you drive to a campus for work or appointments, check commute and drive times at the hours you'd make the trip, not straight-line distance.
If you want a detached house with a short drive to a Kaiser medical center, start with the areas around whichever Kaiser campus is closer to your work. If you want room to negotiate within the central cluster, start with condos. If you want more space than a condo for well under house prices, start with townhouses. Made 4 More Realty can pull recent sales around a specific campus to help you compare. The pros and cons of living in Sacramento provide broader context for your home search.
At a Glance
- All homes, Sacramento: median sale price $597,628, up 2.2% year over year (Redfin, 30 days ending 2026-09-30)
- Single-family homes: median sale price $603,555, up 1.4% YoY; median 29 days on market; 99.5% sale-to-list; 33.4% sold above list; 2.8 months of supply (30 days ending 2026-09-30)
- Condos: median sale price $340,054, down 4.2% YoY; median 71 days on market; 97.5% sale-to-list; 12% sold above list; 4.9 months of supply (30 days ending 2026-09-30)
- Townhouses: median sale price $376,961, down 5.8% YoY; median 66 days on market; 97.6% sale-to-list (based on 32 townhouse sales, 30 days ending 2026-09-30)
Sacramento Hospitals FAQs
How Many Hospitals Are in Sacramento?
Sacramento County has ten HCAI-licensed general acute care hospitals. They are the seven campuses profiled above, plus Mercy San Juan Medical Center, UC Davis Rehabilitation Hospital and Sacramento Rehabilitation Hospital.
What Is the Biggest Hospital in Sacramento?
By licensed beds, UC Davis Medical Center is the largest with 653. Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento follows with 523, then Mercy San Juan Medical Center with 384. Bed counts measure size, not quality.
Is UC Davis Hospital in Sacramento?
Yes. UC Davis Medical Center and its trauma center are on Stockton Boulevard in Sacramento, not in the city of Davis.
How Many Sutter Hospitals Are in Sacramento?
One. Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento on Capitol Ave is Sutter Health's only hospital license in Sacramento County; other Sutter hospitals, such as Sutter Roseville, are outside the county.
Where Is Mercy Hospital in Sacramento?
Mercy General Hospital is on J Street in East Sacramento. The other two Dignity hospitals named Mercy are Mercy San Juan Medical Center in Carmichael and Mercy Hospital of Folsom in the eastern suburbs.
Which Hospitals in Sacramento County Are Trauma Centers?
Sacramento County has three state and county-designated trauma centers. UC Davis Medical Center is a Level I Trauma Center and Level II Pediatric Trauma Center. Mercy San Juan Medical Center and Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento Medical Center are both Level II Trauma Centers.
Sources
- Redfin: Data Center
- California EMS Authority: 2020 Sacramento EMS Plan
- CMS: UC Davis Medical Center
- HCAI: Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento
- DHCS: Sacramento County California Children's Services
- California Legislative Information: Health and Safety Code
- DMHC: Emergency and Urgent Care
- Dignity Health: Mercy General Hospital
- HCAI: Mercy San Juan Medical Center
- Shriners Children's: Northern California
- HCAI: University of California Davis Medical Center
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