California population nearly hits a milestone, but growth is slowing. Here’s why

California’s population inched closer to 40 million this year but the state fell short by about 40,000 people as the growth rate slowed to its lowest point since 1900, according to new data from the state Department of Finance.

Enough babies were born in California to buoy the losses from the state’s aging population dying off. There were 180,800 more births than deaths, a 5 percent decrease from the previous year.

But migration, mostly to other states, undermined those meager gains. Net migration — people moving into the state minus people leaving — was down by 39,500 residents. For the first time since 2010, the state lost more people moving out than moving in, finance department officials said.

As a result, the state grew by just 0.35 percent, or 141,310 people.

Smaller counties in the more rural and remote parts of the state largely lost population or grew meagerly except for places surrounding Butte County, where the Camp Fire tarnished the town of Paradise and other communities, forcing thousands to make homes elsewhere.

The population of Butte County fell by nearly 5 percent, reflecting the out-migration. But nearby Sutter County’s population was boosted by 2,200 people, an increase of 2.2 percent.

Sacramento County added nearly 16,000 people, the third-highest amount behind Riverside and San Bernardino counties. And Placer County, which grew by 1.4 percent, was once again among the places with the highest growth rates.

This story was originally published December 20, 2019 at 12:45 PM with the headline "California population nearly hits a milestone, but growth is slowing. Here’s why."