L.A. County's Population Increased by Nearly 1 Million Last Year

LONG BEACH, CA -- If it seems there are more people in the Southland than before, it's because there are.

The population in Los Angeles County were up 0.8 percent from 2015, the state Department of Finance reported Monday.

According to the agency's annual state population estimates, county's population was 10,241,335 on Jan. 1,

The city of Los Angeles saw the biggest increase in the number residents last year. The city's population grew by 1.3 percent in 2015, pushing the number of residents over the 4 million mark for the first time -- an increase of roughly 50,000 people.

Long Beach, the seventh-largest city in the state, added about 3,000 residents last year, giving it a population of 484,958 as of Jan. 1, according to the state.

Orange County's Irvine was ranked as one of the state's fastest-growing cities, increasing its population by 2.6 percent to reach 258,386. The city had the largest numeric change in population -- 6,650 -- for any city in the state with fewer than 300,000 people.

The statewide growth rate was 0.9 percent last year, with an addition of 348,000 residents, bringing California's population to 39,256,000, according to the agency's data.

The Department of Finance reported that growth was evenly distributed around the state, with most cities and counties experiencing increases in population.

Behind Los Angeles, the rest of the state's 10 largest cities on Jan. 1 were, in order:

• 2. San Diego, 1,391,676;
• 3. San Jose, 1,042,094;
• 4. San Francisco, 866,583;
• 5. Fresno, 520,453;
• 6. Sacramento, 485,683;
• 7. Long Beach, 484,958;
• 8. Oakland, 422,856;
• 9. Bakersfield, 379,110; and
• 10. Anaheim, 358,136.

--City News Service, photo via Shutterstock