We introduce a semistochastic implementation of the power method to compute, for very large matrices, the dominant eigenvalue and expectation values involving the corresponding eigenvector. The method is semistochastic in that the matrix multiplication is partially implemented numerically exactly and partially stochastically with respect to expectation values only. Compared to a fully stochastic method, the semistochastic approach significantly reduces the computational time required to obtain the eigenvalue to a specified statistical uncertainty. This is demonstrated by the application of the semistochastic quantum Monte Carlo method to systems with a sign problem: the fermion Hubbard model and the carbon dimer. © 2012 American Physical Society.