Stanislaus County grows by 1 percent. California sees fewer births, more people leaving.
Stanislaus County’s population grew by 3,779 residents in the past year, about a 1 percent increase that pushed the total to 558,395.
The county is the 16th largest of the 58 in California. The state’s growth rate has slowed because of fewer births, an aging population and more people leaving the state, according to a report released last month by the California Department of Finance.
California’s population increased .35 percent to 39.96 million from July 1, 2018 to July 1, 2019, the slowest annual growth rate since 1900, the state report said.
Natural increase accounted for most of the growth in Stanislaus County, which had 7,356 births and 4,291 deaths for a net increase of 3,065.
The county added 714 residents from what demographers call “net migration” — 1,797 people moved into the county and 1,083 moved away.
California last year continued on a downward trend in births. The number of births decreased 2 percent to 452,217. That was down significantly from 482,703 births in 2016-17 and 500,533 in 2014-15. The births in Stanislaus County last year were the second lowest total in the past decade.
In a sign of the state’s aging population, the number of deaths gradually climbed in the past decade from 237,546 in 2010-11 to 270,638 last year.
Dowell Myers, professor of policy, planning and demography at University of Southern California, said in May the state’s expensive housing is a factor in younger families waiting to have children or leaving the Golden State. Myers said young married couples feel they both need to work in order to purchase a home before starting a family.
College debt is another reason why couples are having children later in life than previous generations, the professor said.
The Sacramento Bee contributed to this story.
This story was originally published January 7, 2020 at 12:14 PM.
