Why Californians are fleeing this once-Golden State
by George Skelton, Los Angeles Times
Apr 08, 2024
4 minutes
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — It seems only yesterday that California's population was nearly 40 million. Then more people left the state. Now we're not even at 39 million.
The U.S. Census Bureau reported in March that California's population as of last July had dropped to an estimated 38,965,000. That's down by 75,400 in a year — and 573,000 below California's peak of 39.5 million in 2020.
Entering this century, when California's still-growing population was 34 million, we were predicted to reach 45 million by 2020 and almost 60 million by 2040. So much for that.
People have been fleeing on Gov. Gavin Newsom's watch.
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