Solano County has seven public school districts that manage 114 schools serving nearly 71,000 students from kindergarten through the 12th grade. The schools are proud to report that student test scores have steadily risen over the past seven years. According to California's Academic Performance Index (API), which combines the scores of the STAR Test and the California High School Exit Exam, Solano County scores have risen an average of 26 points from 2004 to 2007.

Beyond the high school, Solano County is served by the Solano Community College, a University of California campus with the California Maritime Academy, Touro University on Mare Island and several extension campuses of several major universities.  Solano County also lays claim to the University of California, Davis, with the agricultural components of the campus extending into the county.

Solano County hosts San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge, a 13,190-acre National Wildlife Refuge in California. It extends along the northern shore of San Pablo Bay, from the mouth of the Petaluma River, to Tolay Creek, Sonoma Creek, and ending at Mare Island.

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The refuge encompasses the largest remaining continuous patch of pickleweed-dominated tidal marsh in the northern San Francisco Bay.

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The Refuge includes a variety of habitats including open water, mud flat, tidal marsh, estuary, and seasonal and managed wetlands.

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The Refuge also provides year-round habitat for sensitive species including the endangered Ridgway's Rail and salt marsh harvest mouse. Public access to the refuge is provided by the Tolay Creek Tubbs Island Trail.

In 1985 Humphrey the humpback whale strayed off his migration route and ended up in Shag Slough north of Rio Vista. Rescuers from the Marine Mammal Center and other volunteers dismantled a county bridge before being able to turn him around in the narrow slough.