California is witnessing a subtle yet notable uptick in its population. According to the state Department of Finance's latest estimate, the Golden State saw its resident numbers rise by approximately 67,000 in 2023, an increase of 0.17% from the previous year. This comes after experiencing a decline for three consecutive years.
Attributing the recent gains to several factors, Governor Gavin Newsom lauded the state's appeal in a statement via SFist, noting, "People from across the nation and the globe are coming to the Golden State to pursue the California Dream and experience the success of the world’s 5th largest economy." While reflecting a positive outlook, this assertion still falls short of California's growth trends in the last decade, with annual increases landing between 200,000 to 300,000 new residents each year.
San Francisco, in particular, has seen a symbolic population increase of 0.1%, rounding up to 843,071 residents as of January 1. Simultaneously, the US Census Bureau's tally as of July 1, 2023, marked the city's population at 808,988 – a noticeable recovery after a more than 7% drop since April 2020, as per statistics cited by SF Standard.
Throughout the state, 31 out of 58 counties reported population growth, with Los Angeles County leading the charge, welcoming 32,000 net new residents in 2023 alone. This trend bucks the pandemic-era pattern, Eric McGee of the Public Policy Institute told Bay Area News Group, "During the pandemic, high education, high income people were leaving the state in big numbers... But a lot of places are just saying, 'Hey, come back in two days a week, three days a week.' It’s just enough to keep people tied to California."
Despite the optimistic tone, challenges remain. California's economy has been hit by consecutive budget deficits and a 5.3% unemployment rate, higher than the national average. Factors contributing to the slow growth were an exodus of residents during the initial pandemic years due to flexible work policies allowing relocation to more affordable states. Moreover, numbers reflect a net loss of 91,189 people who moved away from the state in 2023. However, this was less aggressive than in previous years, as explained by H.D. Palmer, spokesperson for the California Department of Finance. This number is much closer to pre-pandemic trends when interpreting shifts in residential movement and workplace dynamics, state data indicates.
