Californians are fleeing LA and the Bay Area. How many ditched West Coast cities in 2020?
Los Angeles and much of the Bay Area saw a notable drop in population over the last year as the coronavirus pandemic led city dwellers to rethink where they wanted to live, according to California Department of Finance data provided Friday.
Los Angeles’s population decreased 1.3%, from 3,975,234 on Jan. 1, 2020, to 3,923,341 on Jan. 1, 2021.
San Francisco’s population decreased 1.7%, from 889,783 on Jan. 1, 2020, to 875,010 on Jan. 1, 2021.
Alameda County saw an overall 0.4% population drop, though some of its cities were harder hit than others. Albany recorded a 9.6% drop, while neighboring Berkeley lost 4.6%. Oakland’s population grew 0.7% to 435,514.
Other Bay Area counties to see losses included Marin County (1% loss), Santa Clara County (0.6% loss), Solano County (0.2% loss), San Mateo County (0.8% loss), Sonoma County (1.5% loss), Napa County (1% loss) and Santa Cruz County (3.4% loss).
San Benito and Contra Costa counties both recorded an increase, of 1.7% for San Benito County and 0.3% for Contra Costa County.
The news from the Department of Finance confirms previous studies that showed a flight from the more urban parts of California for the more suburban and rural parts of the state during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A from California Policy Lab released in early March foreshadowed the the population estimates released by the state. The study projected San Francisco saw a 649% increase in the net number of exits for 2020, with most of those leaving the city moving elsewhere in the Bay Area or California.
Inland cities like Fresno and Elk Grove saw population gains last year. Other fast-growing communities included Placer, Merced and Riverside counties, which became more appealing when private companies relaxed work-from-home rules during the pandemic and allowed employees to live farther from job centers.
“Although net migration to the Bay Area and San Francisco has dropped since this time last year, most movers appear to be sticking close to home, with approximately two-thirds of San Franciscan movers remaining in the Bay Area economic region and nearly 80% remaining in the state,” according to the report.
