For the third year in a row, California saw its population drop, raising new concerns about how the much-discussed exodus could hurt the state’s political influence.
The state’s population declined by around 37,000 people from July 1, 2022, to July 1, 2023, or 0.1%. The loss is minuscule compared with the more than 500,000 people the state lost from April 2020 to July 2022. But it still represents the sixth-largest rate of loss of any state during that time span.
Prior to the fiscal year from July 1, 2020, to July 1, 2021, California had never seen even one year of population decline since 1900, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
The numbers suggest California’s latest exodus is slowing as the pandemic eases, but it still remains a concern.
Only New York, Louisiana, Hawaii, Illinois and West Virginia lost a larger share of their population over the year.
California remains the nation’s most populous state by far (39.1 million), but since April 2020, its population has dropped by a total of 1.5% — the fourth-most of any state. Idaho, South Carolina and Florida have gained the most people in this period, each experiencing growth of 5% or more.