The state’s uneven growth

These maps break down California’s population last year and show the elements of growth by county.

Population distribution

Three Southern California counties have 44% of the state’s residents. The fewest people live in northeast California.

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Natural growth

(births minus deaths)

Eleven rural counties had more people die than were born to replace them, whereas L.A., Orange and San Diego counties had far more births than deaths.

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Foreign immigration

(from outside the U.S.)

Most people coming to California from other countries still moved primarily to Los Angeles and Orange counties.

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Domestic migration

(within the U.S.)

L.A., Orange and San Diego counties lost more residents to other parts of the country than they gained, as did Alameda County. In terms of net population change within the U.S., Riverside and Kern counties gained the most.

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LOSING POPULATION

These are among counties that saw more deaths than births . . .

-186 Tuolumne County

-137 Nevada County

-118 Amador County

-92 Lake County

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FOREIGN MIGRATION

People who moved to California from outside the United States most often moved to . . .

75,830 Los Angeles County

17,979 Orange County

14,939 San Diego County

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Sources: Caifornia Department of Finance, Internal Revenue Service. Data analysis by Doug Smith and Sandra Poindexter

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This is the second of three graphics this week that will look at trends in California’s population. It, and other recent regional explainer graphics, are available at latimes.com/localgraphics