FILE – A crowd of people take part in a Juneteenth commemoration at Leimert Park Plaza in Los Angeles on June 19, 2021. For the first time, California’s major population centers of Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area lost population in the same year, according to data released Friday, Dec. 17, 2021.
FILE – A cyclist rides with downtown Los Angles in the background on June 16, 2021, in Los Angeles. For the first time, California’s major population centers of Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area lost population in the same year, according to data released Friday, Dec. 17, 2021.
FILE – People line up to board a cable car at the Powell Street turnaround plaza in San Francisco, on Aug. 2, 2021. For the first time, California’s major population centers of Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area lost population in the same year, according to data released Friday, Dec. 17, 2021.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area both lost population during the pandemic, according to new data released Friday as the nation’s most populous state posted just its second year-over-year decline in history.
California estimates its population twice per year. The first report, released in May, estimates the population for the previous calendar year. The second report, released in December, estimates the population for the previous fiscal year, which ends June 30.
Back in May, California reported its first ever annual population decline when the state said it lost 182,083 people in 2020. Friday, the state said it lost 173,000 people between July 1, 2020, and July 1, 2021.
The latest estimate confirms California’s once seemingly boundless population growth has ended. It also shows that, for the first time ever, Los Angeles County and the nine counties surrounding the San Francisco Bay simultaneously lost population in the same year. Together, those two areas account for more than 44% of the state’s nearly 40 million residents and have some of the most expensive housing prices in the nation.
Los Angeles county lost 67,500 people to fall just under 10 million residents. The nine Bay Area counties, which have a combined population of about 7.7 million, lost roughly 64,000 people.
