California population growth stops

LA Times:

California’s population is now growing at its slowest rate in more than a century.

The California Department of Finance, which monitors the state’s population data, found that from July 1, 2019 to July 1, 2020, California saw a net gain of only 21,200 new residents — a 0.05% growth rate not seen since 1900. As of July, the state’s population was 39.78 million.

Over that period, Los Angeles County reported a net loss of 40,036 people, more than any other county in the state.

“This is a real sea change in California, which used to be this state of pretty robust population growth,” said Hans Johnson, a demographer at the Public Policy Institute of California. “It hasn’t been for some time now. But it’s now gotten to the point where the state is essentially not growing population-wise at all.”

The data underscore concerns that the COVID-19 pandemic is fueling greater migration out of California, both from people priced out of coastal areas and those who suddenly had the ability to work remotely.

The “California exodus” storyline was bolstered in recent weeks when two tech titans, Elon Musk and Larry Ellison, announced they were moving to Texas and Hawaii, respectively.

But for the average person, California’s high housing costs pose the greatest challenge, particularly when combined with staggering job losses tied to the pandemic.

The state has been seeing slowing growth for several years, driven by a factors that include lower birth rates and people moving away for economic and political reasons.

Unless there's a Covid-19 baby boom, we'd expect that 0.05% growth rate through July to go negative for the rest of this year and next. The exodus seems to be accelerating.

No doubt SANDAG is still wildly overestimating population growth as an excuse to force more high-density development.