Butte County is a county located in the northern part of the U.S. state of California. In the 2020 census, its population was 211,632. The county seat is Oroville. Butte County comprises the Chico, CA metropolitan statistical area. It is in the California Central Valley, north of the state capital of Sacramento. Butte County is drained by the Feather River and the Sacramento River. Butte Creek and Big Chico Creek are additional perennial streams, both tributary to the Sacramento.