New State Population Report Features Impact of Realignment on Prison and County Populations

State officials released new population figures in a report that proves there is a slowing down trend when it comes to California’s growth rate. The state in 2011 had just under 37.7 million residents. A notable feature of the new report for counties is not just the fastest growing sectors of the state but also figures on prison population due to the impact of realignment.

The report states: “The 2011 realignment of public safety programs resulted in the overall number of state prison inmates declining 14,535 to 138,956 inmates; while county jail populations rose 3,119 to 72,779. Federal prison populations in California rose 2,704 to 20,774 inmates statewide. The largest prison decline occurred in Delano (-1,713) in Kern County. Other significant state prison losses include Coalinga (-1,309) in Fresno County, Chowchilla (-1,138) in Madera County, Wasco (-887) in Kern County, and unincorporated Marin County (-784).”

Here are some other highlights from the report:

• “California's statewide housing growth in 2011 continued to reflect the downturn in the housing industry by adding only 35,544 housing units.
• Finance’s housing estimates show a steady reduction in residential construction since the peak year of 2005, when the state added 197,477 new units.
• The 2012 report lists 482 California cities, of which 412 had gains in population, 68 lost population, and two experienced no change
• Some of the fastest growing cities were California City in Kern County (3.7 percent), Winters in Yolo County (3.5 percent), Dinuba in Tulare County (3.4 percent), and Eastvale in Riverside County (2.8 percent).

Read the full report here and find percentage change for each county in the state on page 4 of this report.