Here's How Rohnert Park And Cotati's Populations Changed In 2018

ROHNERT PARK-COTATI CA — The cities of Rohnert Park and Cotati both gained some new residents in 2018 while the county of Sonoma lost some, according to new population estimates for cities and towns released Thursday by the United States Census Bureau. The numbers show which places gained or lost the most residents in 2018.

Between 2017 and 2018, 1,025 more people started calling the city of Rohnert Park home, and Cotati gained 138 residents, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Rohnert Park's estimated population in 2018 was 43,753, up from 42,728 the prior year; in Cotati, the population went from 7,461 in 2017 to 7,599 in 2018.

At the same time, the figures show Sonoma County's population decreased by 3,304 residents, falling from 503,246 in 2017 to 499,942 in 2018.

According to the estimates for neighboring Sonoma County cities: Petaluma's population rose by 1,209, from 60,708 in 2017 to 61,917 in 2018; Sonoma's population rose by 169 residents, from 11,079 in 2017 to 11,248 in 2018; Healdsburg's population grew by 298 residents, from 11,806 in 2017 to 12,104 in 2018; Sebastopol got 122 new residents, going from a population of 7,646 in 2017 to 7,768 in 2018; and Cloverdale's population rose by 114 residents, going from 8,764 in 2017 to 8,878 in 2018.

The figures released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau also contained the number of housing units available in the state of California and each of its 58 counties. The numbers show Sonoma County had 205,225 housing units in 2018. That's down 4,090 from 209,315 housing units in 2017, a decrease that can likely be attributed to the number of homes lost in the October 2017 wildfires.

In 2018 in California, there were 14,277,157 total housing units and an overall estimated state population of 39,557,045. That's an increase of 157,696 people calling the Golden State home in one year's time but a decrease of 103,561 housing units, according to the figures provided by the U.S. Census Bureau.

When looking at population estimates for all U.S. cities, more people moved to Phoenix than any other city in 2018. Phoenix was among a handful of cities mainly in the West and the South that saw the largest jumps in population in 2018.

New York City remains America's most populous city but more than 39,000 residents fled the Big Apple in 2018, the figures show. On the country's opposite coast — also known to some as the "left," "west" or "best" coast — Los Angeles, the second-most populous city in the nation, gained nearly 8,500 residents.

San Antonio, Fort Worth, Seattle and Charlotte rounded out the top five cities with the largest population increases.

Ten communities in America exceeded the 50,000-population mark in 2018, while another three crossed the 100,000-population mark.

Overall, the 15 U.S. cities with the largest population increases in 2018 were:

Phoenix, Arizona
San Antonio, Texas
Fort Worth, Texas
Seattle, Washington
Charlotte, North Carolina
Austin, Texas
Jacksonville, Florida
San Diego, California
Denver, Colorado
Frisco, Texas
Columbus, Ohio
Henderson City, Nevada
McKinney, Texas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Miami, Florida

Patch national staffer Feroze Dhanoa contributed to this report.