These California counties are suddenly seeing population gains — is it a post-COVID rebound?

California’s population is still declining.

However, the state’s drop appears to be slowing — and some regions are seeing healthy growth, according to new state figures.

Data released by the state Department of Finance on Tuesday show that California’s population declined by an estimated 37,203 between July 2022 and July 2023, a far smaller drop than the previous two years. An estimated 39.1 million people call the Golden State home.

Births outnumbered deaths in the state by 107,300 and net foreign immigration rebounded in the past year as pandemic-era restrictions eased, the state said.

Still, while the number of people fleeing California for other states also declined, the state lost a net of 260,408 residents to the rest of the nation, continuing a years-long trend of a domestic California exodus. California lost an estimate 295,578 residents to other states between 2021 and 2022.

Among the state’s bright spots was San Francisco, where the population had declined significantly in the first two years of the pandemic. San Francisco made gains in both domestic and foreign migration, helping its overall population increase by an estimated 4,925 over last year – the third-highest numerical jump in California. The biggest population gains were seen in fellow Bay Area counties Santa Clara and Alameda.

Pockets of the Sacramento region also saw population gains.

Sacramento County’s population increased by 3,187, the fifth-best jump in the state. Placer and Yuba were also in the top 10 for population growth, and Yuba County’s growth rate of .76% was the highest in California.

The six-county region’s population stood at 2.58 million, slightly above last year but still below 2020 levels. Sutter, Yolo and El Dorado counties all saw year-over-year population declines.

The bump in Sacramento County’s population was the result of both births outnumbering deaths and strong foreign immigration numbers. The county’s net foreign immigration gain of 6,609 was among the state’s highest.

Elsewhere in the Central Valley, Fresno, San Joaquin, Madera and Merced counties grew in the past year. Stanislaus County lost a net of roughly 2,200 residents, due largely to sluggish migration figures.

The largest percentage declines in population occurred in the state’s rural counties, led by significant drops in Lassen, Plumas, Glenn, Del Norte, Lake, El Dorado and Sierra.