SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California's population is approaching 40 million after growing by nearly 300,000 people during the year ending July 1, 2017.
That puts the state's total population at 39.6 million.
The state Department of Finance released its annual county-by-county population estimates on Thursday. California's counties range in size from 10.3 million in Los Angeles, which is larger than most states, to tiny Alpine with just 1,100 people.
Most of the population growth came from births, which outpaced deaths by 220,000. There was a net gain of 80,000 people from other states and countries.
The largest numeric increases were in Southern California counties, while the biggest percentage jumps were in the Sacramento suburbs, the Inland Empire and the Central Valley.
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