We sure hope you like your neighbors, because Angelenos are set to be packed closer together than ever. In the last year, the county saw a record spike in population, now more than 10.229 million residents, the largest it has ever been. L.A. County alone now accounts for almost 26 percent of the entire state’s population.
According to My News L.A., the net gain of an estimated 43,700 new residents puts Los Angeles County in first place among all California counties in growth. During the same time period, Orange County grew its population rolls by 20,100, putting it at fourth place state-wide.
Los Angeles County is the most populous county in the entire United States now, followed distantly by Cook County, Illinois, where Chicago is located. Orange County ranks sixth in the country.
While the population figures continue to grow, it’s not entirely because California hospitals are filled with newborn babies. The state’s birth rate actually marked its lowest point since record keeping began, falling to an average of just 12.4 recorded births for every 1,000 people living in the state. Simultaneously, death rates are continuing to slowly rise as the large Baby Boom generation ages, this year hitting 6.7 deaths per 1,000 Californians.
So what accounts for the growth? A lot of it is people moving to our area from elsewhere, and, with our beautiful city full of interesting culture and economic opportunity, we can’t really blame them.
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