Written by Miguel Palacios
According to the California Department of Finance, California’s population has decreased by half a percent. That may not seem like much, but on the larger scale, it amounts to 182,083 fewer residents in the Golden State.
It’s not surprising that the state has experienced a decrease in residents, as Covid-19 has taken its toll on the people. Numbers released by officials state that approximately 51,000 Californians succumbed to Covid-19 in 2020. In addition to the Covid-19 deaths, California saw a decline in births as well as a decrease in immigration. Officials reported there were 24,000 fewer births and 100,000 fewer immigrants.
Covid deaths were really the big surprise, as the falling birthrate tracks with national and international trends and the decline in immigration tracks with the Trump administration’s restrictive immigration policies. Because of Covid-19, the average death rate was 19% higher in 2020 than in the previous three years.
Some regions retained positive growth despite these declining numbers. For instance, Sacramento Valley, the Central Valley, and the Inland Empire all maintained strong population growth. San Diego, like other coastal areas, saw population declines. Overall, San Diego County saw a population decline of half a percent, while the city of San Diego saw a population decline of 0.7%.
Nevertheless, the Golden State is proud of one thing that happened during this period. According to Chris Jennewein’s article for the Times of San Diego, California constructed 103,073 new housing units. It is the first time the state has constructed more than 100,000 units since 2008. With this increase in housing units, the city of San Diego had a net gain of 3,897 units.
California Department of Finance estimates that because of the state’s increasing vaccinations and the change to immigration policies, California will again see a positive growth rate for 2021, however small it may be.
Some view this as state leadership ignoring the elephant in the room, which is why California residents moving to other states. As reported in April, California residents and businesses are likely to see a tax increase, thanks to the Biden administration. Some people have drawn the line and decided it was time to go. Elon Musk not only moved to Texas to move Tesla to a friendlier tax environment but also for himself. Businesses are not the only entities that will be hit hard by the proverbial “storm to come.”
Whether the population decrease is due to covid-related deaths or the threat of tax hikes remains to be seen. Time will tell.
