Sacramento residents complain more than most of the US, study says. Where do we rank?

Brianna Taylor
·2 min read
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Nuisance neighbors in Sacramento? Dial 3-1-1. Stray shopping cart in Sacramento? Dial 3-1-1. Broken sidewalk in Sacramento? Dial 3-1-1.

The calls are endless, according to a new 311 complaint study that ranks Sacramento among the nation’s major cities with the “highest rates of neighborhood complaints.” According to MoverDB, a moving guide company, the area receives 11,156 complaints for every 10,000 residents per year.

“The City of Sacramento encourages its residents to call 311 for any customer service request they have, including seeking information and setting up new services,” MoverDB wrote on its website.

“This could explain why Sacramento ranks so high on this list.”

Sacramento residents are urged to funnel non-life-threatening emergencies — from questions about building projects to requests to clean up park restrooms — through a team of customer service agents available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The process is similar for county residents.

Baltimore, Maryland, residents complain the most about their neighborhood compared to anyone else on the list. The study, last updated Oct. 13, calculated 17,551 complaints to every 10,000 residents per year.

Albany, New York, ranked No. 3 (10,689 complaints) and San Francisco took the fourth spot (9,384 complaints).

ModverDB took 311 data from the nation’s major cities and ZIP codes were ranked based on the number of complaints between August 2022 and August 2023. The study analyzed data from a list of sources including the U.S. Census Bureau, The New York Times and QNS, a Queens, New York, news site.

Residents of Riverside make the least number of complaints compared to any other major U.S. city — 906 complaints per 10,000 residents — beating Denver, Nashville and Boston.

Here’s where California cities fall on the list of major U.S. cities with the “highest rates of neighborhood complaints,” according to MoverDB’s 3-1-1 complaint study (per 10,000 residents):

2. Sacramento, 11,156 complaints

4. San Francisco, 9,384

10. Berkeley, 4,874

21. Los Angeles, 3,406

26. San Jose, 2,775

29. San Diego, 2,678

30. Oakland, 2,210

34. Riverside, 906

How major ZIP codes rank

ZIP code 94110, San Francisco’s Mission District, receives the most complaints compared to any major ZIP code. Roughly 12,026 complaints per 10,000 residents are funneled through the 311 center.

The ZIP code with the fewest complaints is 95608 — Sacramento County’s Carmichael area — with 168 calls per 10,000 residents per year.

What do you want to know about life in Sacramento? Ask our service journalism team your top-of-mind questions in the module below or email servicejournalists@sacbee.com.