Feeling Squeezed? California’s Population Increases for First Time Since 2020

Our numbers swelled thanks in part to foreign migration, which rose more than 26 percent from 2022. Fewer deaths also contributed.

Traffic on a Los Angeles freeway during the evening rush hour commute in Alhambra, Calif., on April 12, 2023. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

Buoyed by international migration and decreased mortality, California’s population increased by more than 67,000 people in 2023, according to newly released data from the state’s Department of Finance.

After declining since the pandemic, the population rebounded slightly last year to more than 39.1 million due to legal foreign migration, fewer deaths, and natural population increases.