Sacramento’s a popular place: No. 2 in state for new residents in 2018, census data show

More people moved to the Sacramento region last year than any other metro area in the state outside of San Bernardino. Nearly 25,000 people moved to the capital region in 2018, boosting the estimated population 2,345,210, according to new census data released Thursday.

The population increased naturally by 8,600 people and another 16,000 people came from within the U.S. and abroad. Since 2010, the region has added close to 200,000 residents which allowed it to surpass Pittsburgh and claim the spot of the 26th-largest metro area in the country.

The strongest growth was in Placer County, where the population increased by 2 percent – the third-largest jump in the state behind San Benito and Amador counties. The census now estimates the population at 393,000.

The Los Angeles metro area – the state’s largest by far – saw its overall population decline as more people left for other regions. The more than 156,000 births were not enough to offset the 90,000 people who died and 118,000 who left.

Bay Area counties continued to seeing solid gains with nearly 19,000 people added to the region mostly on account of births and people from outside the country.

Stockton, the only smaller region to see double-digit gains, added about the same number of people from elsewhere as births. Since 2010, the region’s population has grown by nearly 10 percent.

This story was originally published April 18, 2019 at 9:59 AM.