Originally a settlement called South Butte, established in the vicinity of the stage station at Butte House east of the current town. It had a post office from August 7, 1871 until December 17, 1878 and from February 18, 1879 to January 20, 1888 when it was moved to the new Sutter City Post Office nearby. The Sutter Cemetery originally South Butte Cemetery, lay to the west on the stage road, and beside it was the school house, that was dismissed when there was a funeral. Sutter City was the result of an attempt to take advantage of the boom in California in the late 1880s. The town was located south of the Cemetery along the path of a railroad line projected to pass through the town and it hoped to become the new county seat, because it was near the geographical center of the county. However the rail line was never built and it never became the county seat. The Sutter City post office name was changed to Sutter on January 26, 1895.
The 2010 United States Census reported that Sutter had a population of 2,904. The population density was 956.7 people per square mile. The racial makeup of Sutter was 2,503 White, African American, Native American, 30 Asian, 1 Pacific Islander, 160 from other races, and 140 from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 410 persons. The Census reported that 2,904 people lived in households, 0 lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 were institutionalized. There were 1,021 households, out of which 428 had children under the age of 18 living in them, 605 were opposite-sex married couplesliving together, 127 had a female householder with no husband present, 68 had a male householder with no wife present. There were 53 unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 7 same-sex married couples or partnerships. 177 households were made up of individuals and 92 had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.84. There were 800 families ; the average family size was 3.18. The population was spread out with 791 people under the age of 18, 255 people aged 18 to 24, 652 people aged 25 to 44, 856 people aged 45 to 64, and 350 people who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 105.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.0 males. There were 1,082 housing units at an average density of 356.4 per square mile, of which 777 were owner-occupied, and 244 were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.1%; the rental vacancy rate was 3.9%. 2,198 people lived in owner-occupied housing units and 706 people lived in rental housing units.
2000
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,885 people, 922 households, and 771 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 951.8 people per square mile. There were 952 housing units at an average density of 314.1 per square mile. The racial makeup of the CDP was 84.85% White, 0.28% African American, 2.53% Native American, 0.66% Asian, 6.27% from other races, and 5.41% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 12.41% of the population. There were 922 households out of which 47.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.4% were married couples living together, 12.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 16.3% were non-families. 12.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.13 and the average family size was 3.38. In the CDP, the population was spread out with 34.5% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 28.8% from 25 to 44, 20.1% from 45 to 64, and 9.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.4 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $41,296, and the median income for a family was $78,677. Males had a median income of $35,577 versus $22,583 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $16,509. About 10.1% of families and 12.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.9% of those under age 18 and 3.6% of those age 65 or over.
