California Population 2024

California is a large state on the west coast of the United States that is home to one of the world's most diverse populations. At the last official United States census carried out in 2020, the population of California was declared at 39,538,223 which makes the state the most populous by a wide margin over 2nd place Texas (29 million).

Much of the population is centered in several large cities. California contains the second largest city (Los Angeles), 3 of the largest 10 cities (Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Jose), and the largest county (Los Angeles County) in the United States.

By 2030, the population is projected to surpass 42 million. Population growth has decreased in recent years, which may affect these projections.

California Area and Population Density

California is the 3rd largest state by area, putting its population density at 251.3 per square mile, which ranks 11th in the country.

California Gender and Religion Statistics

The median age in California is 36 years, with 50.3% of the population being female and 49.6% being male.

In religious terms, 63% of Californians associate with a Christian based faith, 9% are affiliated with non-Christian faiths, and have a rate of 27% unaffiliated individuals.

California Boundary, Census and Statehood History

California has a healthy natural growth rate and the gap between the birth rate and death rate is quite significant. Between 2000 and 2009, 5,058,440 births and 2,179,958 deaths resulted in a natural growth of 3,090,016.

Another significant factor for the California population is immigration: California had huge appeal in the days of the Gold Rush and that fact holds true today. Between those years of 2000 and 2009, the state enjoyed a net migration gain of 306,925 people. It’s also been estimated that up to approximately 6.3% of California’s population is made up of illegal immigrants.

California is larger than all but 35 countries in the world. It is also the second most populous national sub-entity, behind only Sao Paulo of Brazil.

California was the 31st in line to be admitted as a State in 1850. The historical first census of this state is noted because California also conducted a state census in 1852 in addition to the federal census of 1850. Both results are included in the 1850 census publications. The federal census of 1850 is missing Contra Costa, San Francisco, and Santa Clara counties. They are included in the 1852 state census however.

Increasing immigration has led to a diverse set of ethnic groups within California itself and at the 2010 Census, 57.6% of the population claimed to be white, while 40.1% were non-Hispanic white. 13% were Asian and 6.2% Black. The remaining ethnic groups consisted of Native American, Hispanic, Latino and others. These numbers had changed significantly by 2016, with estimates putting 73.2% of the population as white, 38.5% as non-Hispanic white, 14.4% Asian, and 6.5% black.

In 2014, estimates showed that the Latino and Hispanic population surpassed the population of non-Hispanic Whites. According to those estimates, taken in June 2014, 14.99 million Latinos resided in the state, compared to 14.92 whites. California has the largest minority population and the largest Hispanic population in the country.

The most populous state is also one of the most racially diverse, boasting the largest population of whites in the US, the largest number of Native Americans, and the fifth largest population of African Americans. The Asian population, which is approaching 5 million, makes up about one-third of the nation's total Asian American population.