California stops declining population trend after three years
California experienced its first population growth since 2020, ending years of losing residents to other states. The state’s Department of Finance released data showing a 0.17% increase, equivalent to 67,104 people. Despite this growth, the 2024 population remains approximately 410,000 lower than in previous years. California has seen its first population growth since 2020, reversing the trend of losing residents to other states. Data from the state’s Department of Finance indicates a 0.17% increase, representing 67,104 individuals. However, the 2024 population is still around 410,000 fewer compared to previous years.
After years of hemorrhaging residents to other states, California saw its first year of population growth since 2020, according to data released from the state’s Department of Finance.
The total population increased by 0.17% in the state (or by 67,104 people). The state’s population for 2024 is about 410,000 people less than it was in 2020.
“We have again returned to an era of positive growth, certainly lower than some of the go-go growth that we saw in the 70s and 80s and 90s,” spokesman H.D. Palmer said. “Some of the major reasons that we had declines in population are receding in the rearview mirror.”
San Francisco and Los Angeles County grew very slightly in population after also facing large population declines during the COVID-19 pandemic. The counties gained 847 and 4,779 people, respectively.
The population drop after 2020 was the state’s first such decline since 1900 and was driven by COVID-19 deaths, resident departures, and declining birth rates.
Remote workers leaving the state were also blamed for the decline, though some have been coming back.
“Individuals were newly freed from the office in California” in 2021 and 2022, Walter Schwarm, a demographer for the Department of Finance, said in an interview with Politico. “Some people temporarily moved places and now are back because their employer wants them to be around a little more often.”
Residents continued to leave California in numbers exceeding what the state brought in, but the rate has lessened.
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California’s population decline in 2020 led to political consequences as a House seat was yanked away from the state, reducing its representative count from 53 to 52.
The Department of Finance projects slow population growth in the future, indicating it may take time for the state to regain its lost House seat, if at all.
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