California’s population tops 39 million

California’s population hit 39.1 million this year, the state Department of Finance reported Wednesday, with “natural increase” of births minus deaths providing most of the gain.

The state added 346,000 residents between July 1, 2014, and June 30, 2015, the state’s demographers calculated, for a growth rate of 0.9 percent, which is in line with recent population patterns.

Merced County saw its population grow by 0.6 percent, from 264,567 to 266,134. Merced led the county’s cities in growth, increasing 0.7 percent from 81,175 to 81,722. Atwater, Los Banos, Livingston, Dos Palos and Gustine all showed population increases.

Stanislaus County grew by 0.8 percent, to 532,297 people, with the small towns of Oakdale and Hughson leading in terms of growth rates: 1.3 percent for Oakdale, which hit 21,773 people; and 1.2 for Hughson, which grew to 7,222. The larger cities of Modesto, Turlock and Ceres all saw growth.

While Madera County overall grew by 1 percent, the city of Chowchilla saw its population decline nearly 2 percent, falling from 18,894 to 18,542.

Immigration to California from other countries has slowed to a trickle in recent years and the state has often seen a net loss in state-to-state migration patterns, so immigration in all forms contributed just 84,000 of the state’s year-to-year gain.

The department said the new estimates also reflect improved data on domestic and foreign immigration, which added 226,000 people to estimates from earlier in the decade.

The bulk of growth in 2014-15 came from 507,000 births – almost one a minute – minus 262,000 deaths during the 12-month period. Births, once nearly 600,000 a year, have declined in recent years while deaths are climbing as the large baby boom generation ages.

The calculation for 2014-15 brought California’s population growth since the 2010 census to 1.8 million, which indicates that the 2020 census should count about 41 million Californians.

San Joaquin County was the state’s fastest-growing county in 2014-15, seeing its population rise by 1.58 percent, followed by Monterey and Santa Clara counties. Fifteen rural counties saw population decreases during the year, topped by a 2.56 percent loss in Lassen County.

Although Los Angeles County, with more than a quarter of the state’s population, grew more slowly than the state as a whole, it added the most raw population of any county, 68,686.

Sun-Star Staff contributed to this report.

This story was originally published December 16, 2015 at 3:35 PM with the headline "California’s population tops 39 million."