Fentanyl-related deaths have jumped in Sacramento County. See where they are most common

The number of Sacramento County deaths related to fentanyl rose more than tenfold from 2019 through 2023, with roughly one death a day reported in the last year, according to the latest data from the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is much stronger than heroin or morphine. Illicit drug manufacturers increasingly add fentanyl to their supplies of heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and other drugs as a cheap — but dangerous — way to make them more potent. Just a couple of milligrams of fentanyl — equivalent to about a dozen grains of table salt — can be fatal, depending on the body size of the user.

Sacramento County reported about 400 fentanyl-related deaths in 2023, up from 33 in 2019, the coroner’s data shows.

▪ About half of the deaths involved people between the ages of 21 and 40.

▪ Three quarters of the deaths involved men.

▪ Almost 20% of the deaths involved unhoused people, even though homeless people represent less than 1% of the county’s population, according to the latest point-in-time counts.

Fentanyl-related death rates were highest among the county’s Black residents and lowest among the county’s Asian residents.

White residents saw the second-highest fentanyl-related death rates in the county, and made up a majority of deaths.

The highest rate of fentanyl-related deaths occurred in the 95815 ZIP code, which surrounds Old North Sacramento. About 4 of every 10,000 residents of 95815 died each year due to fentanyl.

Death rates were also high around downtown and midtown Sacramento. Along with 95815, those areas have a high number of unhoused residents.

Fentanyl-related death rates were lowest in 95819, which surrounds East Sacramento, and in ZIP codes surrounding Elk Grove and Folsom.