[15] A writer on Moraga's expedition wrote of the region: Canopies of oaks and cottonwoods, many festooned with grapevines, overhung both sides of the blue current.

[16]Elk Grove was founded in 1850 as a stage stop for travelers coming from Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area, when the Elk Grove Hotel and Stage Stop was opened by James Hall and the town was named after it.

In the late 1980s, suburban development projects began to spring up around the community, specifically in the north near Sacramento.

After many of those tasks were offshored in 2004, the facility was converted into the modern Apple Elk Grove campus.

[21] In 2008, Elk Grove suffered heavily from the subprime mortgage crisis due to its suburban nature.

[24] The city completed the "Singh and Kaur Park" in 2021 to commemorate the lives of the slain men, and to raise awareness about the Sikh faith.

[27][28] Elk Grove is 5–10 miles (8–16 km) south of the state capital in Sacramento and experiences a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csa) with hot summers and cool winters.

The Elk Grove Library also serves neighboring communities such as Vineyard, Wilton, Sloughhouse, and Rancho Murieta.

[38] Cosumnes Community Services District owns and operates over 100 parks in Elk Grove, including Emerald Lakes Golf Course.

He is the first ethnic Hmong mayor in the United States, having immigrated at the age of four with his family as refugees from Laos after the end of the Vietnam War.

Elk Grove is serviced by a E-tran, a fared bus system that traverses many of the city's main routes.

[46] SmaRT Ride is a free, on-demand, Sacramento Regional Transit District system for students that services main routes.

[49] In February 2024, Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen announced that the City of Elk Grove had closed escrow on the new station property.