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I think Sacramento might be sub-optimal. I'll throw out a couple other tech cities that have a much, much, much lower cost of living, but still exciting developments. I think you can get to these places faster, and then develop skills or make some money or even attend college. (I'd actually recommend college first. I know it is fashionable to hate on college right now, but the overwhelming evidence is that it is still a good thing)

==Kansas City Probably the heart of Silicon Prairie right now, it has amazing areas like the Kansas City Startup Village where hackers live together in houses next door to each other powered with Google Fiber. (Need help with something in iOS? Walk a house down and ask the guys in the other place. That type of thing) Not only is it a great city with great BBQ, beer and history, but it the biggest emerging tech scene in the Midwest. This includes, but isn't limited to http://eyeverify.com/ http://www.gethandprint.com/ etc etc etc

==Lincoln, Nebraska Home of the University of Nebraska, it is an emerging tech center with new accelerators and venture capital firms in its sister city like http://dundeeventurecapital.com/ (Omaha is an hour away by car) and other avenues for funding like http://www.investnebraska.com/ and the http://www.nebraskaangels.org/. The fastest growing private company in Nebraska is http://www.hudl.com/, which started as a 3-person startup, but now has 3 offices in two cities. Similarly, the university is in the process of launching Innovation Campus which almost doubles the land area of its campus and includes maker spaces, business accelerators, and more.