SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Although California saw its smallest growth rate in state history over the past year, the population in the City of Sacramento went up by about 7,500 people.
Data gathered by the Department of Finance tallied the state’s population at 39,927,315 people as of Jan. 1, 2019, adding about 187,000 people for a growth rate of 0.47 percent - the lowest since 1900, the earliest records available, the Associated Press reported.
Experts attribute the declining numbers to a steep decrease in the birthrate and an uptick in deaths as the baby boomer generation ages.
Of California’s 10 largest cities, Sacramento (the 6th largest city in the state) saw the biggest population bump; up 1.5 percent.
In all, the City of Chico saw the largest percentage increase in population, about 21 percent, due to the influx of Camp Fire survivors.
Paradise, on the other hand, went from a population count of 26,423 in January 2018 to just 4,590 as of January 2019. Read the full report at the bottom of the article.
Even though total growth is way down, California remains the most populous state by a wide margin. The second most populous state, Texas, is just below 30 million people.
Top 5 largest population changes in California:
- Chico (+19,000 people)
- Sacramento (+7,400 people)
- San Diego (+6,200 people)
- Irvine (+6,100 people)
- Santa Clarita (+5,700 people)
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Gov. Gavin Newsom held a roundtable discussion focused on housing and the rising cost of rent in California. Three women invited to the discussion opened up about their struggle with affordable housing.