California’s Population Grows Slightly to 37.8 Million

SACRAMENTO – California’s population grew by 256,000 between July 1, 2011 and July 1, 2012 to total more than 37.8 million persons, according to official population estimates released today by Gov. Jerry Brown’s Department of Finance. The current growth rate of 0.7 percent is about the same as last year’s population growth, and continues the pattern of modest growth rates over the past few years.

As in the last decade, natural increase remains the primary source of the state’s growth. The natural increase of 269,000 in the past year is composed of approximately 503,000 births minus 234,000 deaths. Births continued to decline statewide while deaths increased over the fiscal year.

Since the national census on April 1, 2010, the state has grown by 572,000 persons. Much of the growth was concentrated in urban coastal counties, while most of the counties losing population were smaller counties located in more remote regions of the state.

The state’s nine largest counties, Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Santa Clara, Alameda, Sacramento and Contra Costa each have over one million residents. These counties are home to about seven out of ten Californians.

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