Butte County population loss highest in California

SACRAMENTO » Butte County’s population is continuing the shrink in the wake of the Camp Fire, according to estimates released last week by the state.

Between July 1, 2019, and July 1, 2020, Butte lost the highest percentage of population — 3.81 percent — among the 58 counties in the state, the Department of Finance estimated.

That amounted to a population drop of 8,170 people, second in number only to Los Angeles County’s loss of 39,373. LA’s loss only amounted to 0.39 percent of its population, however.

Butte’s population decline comes on top of a 5.25 percent loss between July 1, 2018 and July 1, 2019. In the wake of the Camp Fire on Nov. 8, 2018, 12,040 people left the county, partially offset by the immigration of 179 new residents.

The new numbers show 8,330 people leaving Butte between July 1, 2019, and July 1, 2020, with 156 immigrating in, and a natural increase — births minus deaths — of 4.

Glenn and Yuba counties likely received some of the outward migration from Butte, as their growth rates by percentage were second and third among California counties.

Glenn saw 329 people moving in, and a natural increase of 106, for a new total of 29,507. That’s up 1.5 percent over the previous year. Yuba had 449 people move in and a natural increase of 579, for a new total of 79,089, up 1.32 percent.

Both far exceeded the state’s growth rate of 0.05, the lowest since 1900. The Department of Finance estimated 261,084 people left the state for elsewhere between July 1, 2019, and July 1, 2020. Just 125,690 immigrated in, and the natural increase was 156,618.

Numbers were mixed for

Butte’s other neighboring counties. Sutter was down 1.6 percent, second most in the state, while Plumas was third with a decline of 1.11 percent. Tehama was up 0.16 percent, and Colusa up 0.14 percent. Shasta grew 0.04 percent.

Only 26 counties saw population increases, while 32 declined.

In the year prior to the Camp Fire, Butte had grown 0.27 percent, and

0.65 percent the year before that.

The annual December report, required by California law, is determined from a number of sources. They include birth and death counts from the Department of Public Health, driver’s license address change and school enrollment counts, housing information from local governments, and federal income tax data.

The statistical reports used to come up with the numbers don’t include any personal information.