CALIFORNIA – The California Department of Finance released a demographic report, April 30, with data showing that the population increased by 67,000 people in 2023.
The report says that the state experienced positive population growth driven by decreased mortality and a rebound in legal foreign immigration.
“California’s population in 2023 grew by just over 67,000 (an annual rate of 0.17%) to 39,128,162,” said the report.
Population growth factors
The department attributes the population growth to three factors:
- Foreign legal immigration had a net gain of 114,200 persons in 2023 compared to 90,300 in 2022.
- Greater domestic in-migration and slowed domestic out-migration.
- Natural increase – the net result of births minus deaths, increased from 106,700 in 2022 to 118,400 in 2023 as the number of deaths declined from their pandemic peak.
“With immigration processing backlogs largely eliminated and deaths returning to long-term trends, a stable foundation for continued growth has returned. As net domestic migration has receded to its lower rates of the 2010s, California is likely to experience slower but positive growth for the near future,” said the report.
Areas with the largest population growth
The report details regions of the state that had the largest population increases.
The population increased in 31 counties, mostly in the Bay Area, Central Valley, and the Inland Empire. Los Angeles County grew by 4,779 people and Orange County grew 9,770 in population.
Nine of the ten counties with populations over 1 million saw increases in population comprising 72% of the state’s total population. Riverside County led with an increase of 13,800.
Housing growth
The report says statewide housing growth increased to 0.79% in 2023 – reinforcing the growth in population.
Ranked by net housing gains, Los Angeles (21,698), San Diego (5,720), Unincorporated Riverside County (2,458), San Francisco (2,277), and Oakland (1,972) added the most housing units in 2023.
“California added 115,933 housing units on net, including 22,802 accessory dwelling units (ADUs), to bring total housing in the state to 14,824,827 units. New construction represents 109,391 housing units with 55,242 single family housing units, 52,937 multi-family housing units, and 1,212 mobile homes,” said the report.
