Driving People Out of California
7th June 2026
When the next governor—Democrat Gavin Newsom—was sworn into office in January 2019, it seemed almost a certainty that during his tenure, the state’s population would exceed 40 million. But, according to the Census Bureau’s latest estimates, California’s population has not increased under Newsom, it has decreased.
In Newsom’s first two years, California’s population made miniscule gains. From 2018 to 2019, it grew from 39,437,463 to 39,437,610—an increase of a mere 147. In 2020, it hit 39,527,808—an increase of 90,198. Then in 2021 and 2022, it dropped—first to 39,152,927 and then to 39,125,347. In 2023, it moved up again slightly, but in the two years after that it dropped again, hitting 39,355,309 in 2025.
That was down 82,301 from the 39,437,610 who inhabited the state in 2019, the year Newsom took office.
What has happened under Newsom to reverse California’s long-term trend in population growth?