x
Breaking News
More () »

Smaller cities see the most growth in the Sacramento region

Sacramento took most of the shine in the report due to its size, but a closer look at other cities in the area revealed interesting growth spurts in smaller cities.

Sacramento's population hit 500,000 for the first time in history.

A new demographic report from the Department of Finance (DOF) said, the city of Sacramento remains the sixth largest in the state and saw a 1.4 percent increase in population last year.

Out of the 10 largest cities in the state, Sacramento had the largest percentage gain, according to the DOF. Additionally, Placer and San Joaquin counties were the second and third fastest growing counties in the state based on percentage with an increase of 1.7 and 1.5 percent respectively.

Sacramento took most of the shine in the report due to its size, but a closer look at other cities in the area revealed interesting growth spurts in smaller cities.

So, what's going on?

Rocklin was the fourth fastest growing city with populations over 30,000. The Placer county city grew by 3.6 percent from the previous year. In bigger cities with populations under 300,000, Roseville was ranked number nine in growth based off numeric change with 2,563 new additions.

The fastest growing cities in Sacramento County were Galt, with a 2.5 percent change, and Isleton, with a 1.9 percent change. In Yolo County, Winters led the way in growth with a 2.3 percent change.

It's important to note, in smaller cities such as Isleton and Winters, even a smaller increase to the population makes an impact in percentage increase. For example, Isleton's population only grew by 16 people from 821 to 837. The population of Winters grew by 162 people from 7,130 to 7,292.

In San Joaquin County, Lathrop grew by 3.8 percent and Manteca by 2.5.

The growth in all the smaller cities in the Sacramento region surpassed the percentage growth of the city of Sacramento.

Why is there so much growth in the region's population?

One reason is there's positive migration in the area, according to Doug Kuczynski, a research program specialist with DOF.

"People are moving in more than they're moving out," he explained.

Additionally, the smaller cities that experienced growth in the past year added new housing units.

"Galt actually did quite a bit of housing growth which we normally don't see," Kuczynski said.

As a state, California's housing growth is overall slow and is in the process of keeping up with the demand in an effort to solve the affordable housing crisis. The DOF report found, housing grew by 0.6 percent in 2017.

Generally, all the smaller cities that saw growth last year added more housing units to the city. Roseville had 936 new units, Lathrop added 266, Manteca built 639 units and Rocklin added 855, according to Kuczynski.

While the number of new units seem low, it's enough to give smaller cities a boost in population.

South Lake Tahoe in El Dorado County is a perfect example of what happens to the population when you add new units. The city converted an old hotel into 519 single-room occupancies and saw a population growth of 3.9 percent, according to Kuczynski.

Does the recent boom in population mean growth in the Sacramento metro will soon slow down?

Nope.

"We do expect Sacramento's growth to continue to go up," Kuczynski said.

Bay Area transplants are commonly blamed for the region's growth. While there aren't as many former Bay Area dwellers now calling Sacramento home as many people think, many coastal residents are still opting to move inland for a more affordable lifestyle.

San Francisco only built multi-family homes last year, forcing many single millennials to make a move to places outside of the Bay, including smaller cities in the Sacramento region, according to Kuczynski.

Despite new people populating the area, the Sacramento region has a low birth rate. Millennials have been flocking to Sacramento in recent years and contribute to the region's low birth rate. However, a shift may start as millennials start to age and have families, Kuczynski said.

The region is expected to welcome new people through future births and migration for some time.

Before You Leave, Check This Out