Janice R. Andrews
California has broken its three-year population decrease streak, a development with enormous political consequences for Democrats and a glimmer of hope amid the state’s chronic affordability crisis.
Official numbers issued by the state Department of Finance on Tuesday show a significant increase of 67,000 people, equivalent to 0.2 percent rise in 2023. This increase was driven by a rebound in legal immigration and a decrease in Covid-19 fatalities.
While California continued to lose citizens to other states, a pattern that has been ongoing for two decades, the outflow has slowed to pre-pandemic levels.
Democrats, in particular, see this reversal as a promising omen, as California’s slowing growth drew harsh criticism from national Republicans and cost the state a congressional seat.
H.D. Palmer, a spokesperson for the Finance Department, stated, “We have again returned to an era of positive growth, albeit lower than some of the go-go growth that we saw in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.” He attributed the population fall to factors that are no longer relevant.
Notably, development of much-needed housing remained consistent, with California adding 116,000 units last year, mostly single-family and multi-family homes. This construction pushed down housing prices, which was beneficial for metropolitan areas striving to stem population losses.
While the Finance Department predicts slow but consistent growth in the coming years, recovering a House seat may demand more muscular expansion initiatives, particularly as landlocked states continue their rapid rise.
According to Election Data Services’ study, if congressional apportionments were based on a recent Census estimate rather than the 2020 Census, California would have lost three House seats instead of one.
Furthermore, slow or negative population growth in some regions, such as Los Angeles County and rural areas, has resulted in lower representation when compared to faster-growing areas like the Inland Empire and the Sacramento metropolitan area, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.
The reversal of California’s population decrease marks a watershed moment, providing hope for a state dealing with housing shortages and economic issues while transforming its political environment.
