California population grows to nearly 37.7 million

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California’s population continues to grow while the population in state prisons has shrunk by more than 14,000 inmates, according to new figures from Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration.

New demographic figures from the Department of Finance show that the state’s population is now nearly 37.7 million, an increase of almost 251,000 from last year.

The population in state-run prisons has fallen by more than 9%, or 14,535 inmates, as a result of policy changes signed by Brown last year. Thousands of inmates who normally would be housed at state facilities are being sent instead to county jails, where populations are up by more than 3,100 inmates, to 72,779.

The city of Los Angeles is still the state’s largest, with more than 3.8 million residents, followed by San Diego and San Jose. Los Angeles had the largest number of new residents of any California city, adding nearly 19,000 residents last year.

The Imperial County city of Calipatria is growing faster than any other municipality, growing by more than 4.2%. But the bulk of that increase, state officials say, is due to 286 additional inmates at Calipatria State Prison.

You can see the entire report here.

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-- Anthony York in Sacramento