State Population 1% Larger; O.C. Grows Slightly Faster

California’s population increased by 320,000 residents, or 1%, to 32.38 million people during 1996, state demographers said Monday in their annual population estimate.

Orange County, the state’s third most populous, grew at an even faster rate of 1.34%, to a total of 2,649,800.

Los Angeles County had the greatest numerical growth, up 44,200 residents to an estimated 9.4 million, but its rate of growth of 0.47% was half the statewide average.

San Diego grew by 0.96% to an estimated 2,694,900 and Ventura County’s population grew 0.29%, to 714,800.

On a percentage basis, remote Lassen County in northeastern California led the state with a 13.96% population increase to 32,650 residents.

But all of Lassen’s growth is attributed to the opening of the new High Desert State Prison in the fall of 1995, which increased the county’s inmate population from 5,748 in 1995 to 10,024 in 1996. Lassen’s non-prison population declined by an estimated 300 residents.

Statewide, more people continued to migrate from California than moved into the state--but by only a small margin--an estimated 16,150. That out-migration was overshadowed by natural population growth with births exceeding deaths by 336,150 between 1995 and 1996.

The statewide population loss due to migration is down from a high of 82,623 between 1992 and 1993, and demographers with the state Department of Finance predicted that net migration would be positive again by 1998.

Among the state’s fastest-growing counties on a percentage basis are Madera, up 3.67%; San Benito, 3.17%; Placer, 2.80%, and Imperial, 2.77%.

Thirteen of California’s 58 counties lost population, led by Yuba County, down 1,800 residents, or 2.89%, to an estimated 60,500.

The population figures are estimates, based on records such as driver’s licenses, school enrollments, employment records, tax filings and recorded births and deaths. The only actual person-by-person counts are conducted in the federal census once per decade.

Since the 1990 census, California’s population has increased by 2.44 million residents.