California’s population falls again amid pandemic’s 2nd year

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The nation’s most populous state is shrinking.

California’s population declined again in 2021 for the second straight year, state officials said Monday, the result of a slowdown in births and immigration coupled with an increase in deaths and people leaving the state.

With an estimated 39 million residents, California is still the most populous state, putting it far ahead of second-place Texas and its 29.5 million residents. But after years of strong growth, the state’s population is now roughly back to where it was in 2016 after declining by 117,552 people this year.

Its population growth had been slowing even before the pandemic as baby boomers aged, younger generations were having fewer children and more people were moving to other states.

Critics point to the steady stream of people leaving California as an indictment on the state’s policies, which are set by Democrats in the governor’s office and the Legislature. About 280,000 more people left California for other states than moved there in 2021, continuing a decadeslong trend.

Impacts of the decline have already been felt, as California lost a seat in Congress for the first time after the U.S. Census showed it did not grow as fast as other states. But the decline hasn’t impacted the state’s bottom line. California had a record budget surplus last year, and is in line for an even larger one this year of as much as $68 billion – mostly the result of a progressive tax structure and a disproportionate population of billionaires.