California's population surpassed 38 million by July 1, 2008 according to official population estimates recently released by the State Department of Finance. The growth of 1.16 percent, representing 436,000 new residents during the fiscal year, continued the pattern of modest growth rates over the past few years.

Unlike recent years, growth in Riverside County's population - up 2.14% - did not account for the greatest increase among the state's 58 counties - it came in third. The fastest growing county during the period was Placer County, north of Sacramento, which grew by 2.6 percent (to 339,000 residents). Imperial County also grew at a faster rate than Riverside County with an increase of 2.32%. Imperial County's population of 177,820, however, is dwarfed by Riverside County's 2,106,328 permanent residents which make it the fourth most populous county in the state, comprising 5.52% of California's population. Only Los Angeles, San Diego and Orange counties have more residents, according to the latest report.

Riverside County also ranked third by total number of new residents, adding 44,178, about 2,500 fewer than San Diego County. Los Angeles County had the biggest population jump, 74,354, but because of its size ranked 36th in percentage increase.

San Bernardino County, which trails Riverside County slightly in population with 2,060,722, had a growth rate about one-half of Riverside County's.

The Department of Finance estimates the population using data generated from birth and death records, driver's license activity, housing figures, school enrollment and tax returns.

For the one-year period, there were 21,160 more births than deaths in Riverside County and net migration contributed roughly 23,000 new residents.

"Potential residents look for communities that are safe and offer a range of public and private schools, colleges and universities," notes Tom Freeman, representative of the Riverside County Economic Development Agency. "Our geographic location and close proximity to lakes, beaches, mountains, deserts and affordable housing continue to make us a county of choice for new residents." Based on the latest calendar year estimates by the Department of Finance (as of January 1, 2008), the Coachella Valley grew at a faster rate in 2007 than both the county and the state. The valley population expanded at a rate of 2.9% in 2007, down .7% from the 3.6% increase during the previous year. The valley added 12,682 new permanent residents in 2007, bringing the grand total to 443,612 (including Wheeler's Market Intelligence estimates of the population in the unincorporated areas within the valley). The valley boasted 4 of the top 10 fastest growing cities in terms of percentage increase in Riverside County. The city of Indio was among the 10 fastest growing cities (6th) in terms of numeric change in California among those with a population of less than 300,000. It was also the 3rd fastest growing city in Riverside County in terms of percentage increase. Coachella, where permanent population grew 5.2%, posted the 2nd fastest growth rate in the desert region and the 4th fastest growth rate in the county.

Looking ahead, we see that essentially every entity that provides population projections for the Coachella Valley, including CVAG, Wheeler's Market Intelligence and Southern California Association of Governments, estimates that the area can accommodate between 1 million and 1.2 million permanent residents at build out. When that will happen is difficult to predict with a high level of confidence, but the Riverside County Center for Demographic Analysis projects the region will be home to approximately one million people by the year. 2035.

Specifically, the Riverside County Center for Demographic Research projects that total permanent population in the Coachella Valley will be 559,1005 in 2015 and 1,001,000 by 2035.

For the state as a whole, natural increase remains the primary source of the state's growth since 2002. The natural increase of 329,000 in the past year is composed of 571,000 births minus 242,000 deaths. This accounted for 75 percent of the 2008 fiscal year growth.

Net migration contributed over 107,000 new residents, 25 percent of the growth. Net migration includes all legal and unauthorized foreign immigrants, residents who left the state to live abroad, and the balance of hundreds of thousands of people moving within the United States both to and from California. During the fiscal year, the state gained over 242,000 new foreign immigrants and, similar to the prior four years, experienced a modest loss of 135,000 persons to other states.

Since the last national census on April 1, 2000, the state has grown by almost 4.3 million persons for an overall growth rate of 12.6 percent. The population was increased by 4.5 million births and the arrival of 1.8 million foreign immigrants and diminished by 1.9 million deaths and the net overall loss of 84,000 domestic migrants. Natural increase during the period was over 2.6 million accounting for 60 percent of the growth. Net migration contributed 1.7 million persons.

Highlights of the new county population report include:

* County population totals range from 1,202 persons in Alpine, the least populated county, to over 10.3 million persons in Los Angeles, the state's most populous county.

* The state's nine largest counties, Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Santa Clara, Alameda, Sacramento and Contra Costa each have over one million residents. They are home to 70 percent of Californians.

* Los Angeles, San Diego, Riverside, Santa Clara, and Orange counties posted the highest numeric population gains and account for over half of the state's growth. Growth in Los Angeles was due to natural increase; the county experienced net out-migration for the past four years. Growth in San Diego, Santa Clara, and Orange was primarily due to natural increase. Growth in Riverside was primarily due to new residents from within the United States, including other counties in California, and from abroad.

* Placer, Imperial, and Riverside counties had the largest percentage increases in population, each growing more than 2 percent. Population change ranged from the highest growth rate of 2.6 percent in Placer to a negative 4.2 percent in Alpine.

* Natural increase (more births than deaths) was the primary source of growth in the state and for 32 of the state's 58 counties. Eleven counties again experienced natural decrease (more deaths than births during the year) -Amador, Calaveras, Lake, Mariposa, Modoc, Nevada, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou, Trinity, and Tuolumne.

* Net migration was the primary source of growth in 15 counties while 16 counties experienced net out-migration.

* Twenty counties had a higher growth rate than the state while 27 counties had a lower rate. Eleven counties posted slight population losses.

Population estimates produced by the Department of Finance are mandated in the State Constitution and various codes. They are used by state agencies, California counties, academic institutions, private research organizations, the media, and the public. Primary uses include budgeting, needs assessment, program planning and evaluation, distribution of state funds, and the calculation of rates (such as birth, death, college-going, and incarceration).

© 2008 Desert Publication, Inc. and Sharon Apfelbaum Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.