It includes the northern Sierra Nevada and northeastern suburbs of Sacramento, stretching south to Death Valley.

It includes the Sacramento suburbs of Roseville (the district's largest city), Folsom, Orangevale, Rocklin, Auburn, and Lincoln, along with the mountain towns of Quincy, South Lake Tahoe, Truckee, Mammoth Lakes, and Bishop.

Once a Democratic bastion, the district was pushed into more rural and Republican-leaning territory after the 1990 census, and finally elected a Republican in 1998.

However, despite Obama's win, in the congressional election held on the same day the Republicans retained the seat.

The 3rd district takes in the census-designated places Challenge-Brownsville, Comptonville, Dobbins, Loma Rica, and Smartsville.