California’s population sees an increase for 2023

The Golden State’s population increased by 67,000 people last year to 39,128,162, according to new data released by the California Department of Finance (DOF). The state’s population growth is attributed to an increase in legal foreign immigration and an increase in the natural population. This is the first year since 2020 that the state has seen a net increase.

With federal legal immigration processing backlogs improving, legal immigration levels rebounding — not including people seeking asylum at the border — and mortality rates returning to long-term trends, a stable foundation for continued growth has returned . Net domestic migration has fallen back to the lower levels seen in the 2010s, and DOF estimates that California will likely experience continued positive population growth.

The report includes preliminary year-over-year January 2024 and revised population data from January 2021 through January 2023 for California cities, counties and the state. These estimates are based on information up to and including January 1. Major changes during the year include:

Population grew in 31 counties, largely in the Bay Area, Central Valley and the Inland Empire. Los Angeles County and Orange County grew in population by 0.05 and 0.31 percent, respectively.

Five counties experienced growth of more than one percent: Sutter (1.9 percent), Imperial (1.8 percent), Glenn (1.4 percent), Yuba (1.1 percent) and San Benito (1.1 percent). ) thanks to housing gains. The next largest percentage increases were San Joaquin (0.96 percent), Madera (0.9 percent), Tulare (0.9 percent), Monterey (0.8 percent) and Merced (0.7 percent) counties.

Nine of the 10 counties with more than 1 million residents experienced population increases, accounting for 72 percent of the state’s total population. Riverside County led with an increase of 13,800.

The top five cities where housing production drove population growth include: Paradise (16.1 percent) in Butte County, Lathrop (5.4 percent) in San Joaquin County, Emeryville (5.0 percent) in Alameda County, Orland (4.9 percent) in Glenn County and Shafter (4.3 percent) in Kern County.