Chowchilla Tops Growth Among Cities

SACRAMENTO — Chowchilla was California’s fastest growing city last year, nearly doubling its population from 6,575 to 12,700 by annexing two state prisons, state demographers reported Monday.

But the Inland Empire of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, California’s fastest growing region in the 1980s, declined slightly in population during 1996.

Riverside County declined by 0.1%, or 1,800 residents, to 1.38 million, with 12 of the county’s 24 cities reporting declines. Neighboring San Bernardino County was up just 200 residents, or 0.012%, to 1,587,400 for a total decline in the two counties of 1,600 residents.

Riverside County increased in population by 76.5% and San Bernardino by 58.5% during the 1980s. The growth continued at a slower rate during the first half of the 1990s.

Ted Gibson, chief economist for the state Department of Finance, which makes the state’s annual population estimates, attributed most of the turnabout in the population trends in the Inland Empire to declining housing prices in Southern California.

Gibson said that made it possible for more people to afford to buy homes closer to the principal centers of employment in Los Angeles and Orange counties.

A second factor, Gibson said, was the continue decline in defense industry jobs, especially in aerospace, in Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Elsewhere in Southern California, Los Angeles County again had the biggest numerical gain, up 1.2% to 9,488,200, followed by San Diego, up 42,300, or 1.6% to 2,724,400. Orange County increased 27,000 residents, or 1%, to 2,659,300. Ventura County increased 3,000 residents, or 0.4%, to 716,800.

Among cities, Los Angeles, the state’s largest, added 41,800 residents, a 1.1% increase to 3,681,700. San Jose increased by 19,600, or 2.3%, to 873,300; San Francisco by 18,300, or 2.4%, to 778,100, and San Diego grew by 17,600 residents, or 1.5%, to 1,197,100.

California’s population increased about 1.2% to 32.6 million.

The population figures are all 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.

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State Population Grows

California state demographers estimate that the state’s population increased by 1.2% over the last year. Of 470 incorporated cities, 382 showed population increases, 62 declined and 26 were unchanged. Here are the population figures for the 25 most populous cities for 1996 and 1997, and percentage change from year to year.

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Jan. 1, Jan. 1, % Location 1996 1997 Change CALIFORNIA 32,223,000 32,609,000 1.2% Los Angeles 3,639,900 3,681,700 1.1% San Diego 1,179,500 1,197,100 1.5% San Jose 853,700 873,300 2.3% San Francisco 759,800 778,100 2.4% Long Beach 438,000 441,700 0.8% Fresno 400,900 406,900 1.5% Sacramento 385,300 388,700 0.9% Oakland 383,900 388,100 1.1% Santa Ana 306,600 307,000 0.1% Anaheim 294,000 295,500 0.5% Riverside 243,400 241,600 -0.7% Stockton 233,400 236,500 1.3% Bakersfield 211,200 214,600 1.6% Glendale 193,500 195,600 1.1% Fremont 188,000 192,200 2.2% Huntington Beach 187,700 188,500 0.4% San Bernardino 181,400 180,300 -0.6% Modesto 179,100 179,800 0.4% Oxnard 152,800 152,800 0.0% Chula Vista 152,700 156,100 2.2% Garden Grove 151,800 152,000 0.1% Oceanside 146,700 149,200 1.7% Ontario 142,200 141,100 -0.8% Torrance 139,900 141,500 1.1% Pomona 139,900 141,400 1.1%

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Source: State Department of Finance