Some Growth In New Population Numbers
Sacramento, CA — A new California Finance Department report finds Sonora and Angels Camp with minimal gains in population. The report notes that of 482 California cities, 421 had estimated gains in population, 50 had reductions, and 11 experienced no change. The city of Sonora with 4,879 is ranked 173rd in the state for its .8% population increase, or an estimated 40 people, from January 2014 to January 2015. Angels Camp is ranked 392nd with 3,811 an increased of 9 or .2% from last year.
The city with the largest population decline was Weed in Siskiyou County (-8.8%), which was a direct result of housing loss from the Boles fire.
The population estimates are produced annually with Census and other state department information for use by local areas to help in calculating their annual budgets. The State Controller’s Office uses Finance’s estimates to update their population figures for distribution of state money to cities and counties, and to comply with various state codes.
A recent U.S. Census Bureau report estimates a slow growth in population statewide, and in the Mother Lode in the next 45 years. Details are here. A March Census report of metropolitan areas stated the nation’s micro areas, which include Tuolumne, contained about 27.2 million people in 2014, an increase of about 13,000 from 2013. Two of the fastest-growing micro areas between 2013 and 2014 were in North Dakota. Overall, fewer than half (244 out of 536) of all U.S. micro areas gained population between 2013 and 2014. Calaveras, Amador and Mariposa counties were too small to be included in the report. Last year’s Census report show that the median age of Mother Lode residents is continuing to increase much more than the state average.
Also released were the estimates for July 2014 of the number of housing units for the nation, states and counties. The Census Bureau reports are used in calculating and very close to the numbers reported by the California Finance Dept. In Tuolumne County the U.S. Census reported 31,361 housing units in Tuolumne by July 2014. The CA Finance Dept. estimates by January 2015 there were 31,406 housing units with a 29.1% vacancy rate. Similarly Calaveras was reported with 28,053 housing units according to the Census Bureau and 28,299 housing units with a 32.4% vacancy rate by 2015 by the Finance Dept.
