Santa Paula sees slight 2014 population gain, now home to 30,556
May 13, 2015
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula News
Santa Paula is home to 30,556 people, 0.4 percent more than last year but less than the 0.7 percent average increase of new residents recorded in Ventura County according to the annual state Department of Finance report.
The population of every city in Ventura County increased slightly last year although just 3 of its 10 cities recorded growth rates of more than 1 percent.
The count is an estimate from January 2014 to January 2015.
Port Hueneme led the way with a growth rate of 1.7 percent reflecting its now 22,768 residents. Coming in second was Moorpark’s 36,727 residents, a 1.6 percent increase. Oxnard ranked third in county growth rate with a 1.3 percent increase and its 206,148 residents.
The report notes that Ventura County has a population that as of January 2015 is 848,073, a 0.7 percent year-over-year increase of 5,688. The county’s growth rate was slightly below statewide numbers, which grew by 0.9 percent.
Growth in the county was concentrated near the beaches as revealed by the data that showed Oxnard, Port Hueneme and Ventura accounted for 63 percent of the boost in the county’s total population.
The two large east county cities, Simi Valley with 126,483 residents and Thousand Oaks with 129,349 people that call it home, recorded the most sluggish growth increases in the county, at 0.2 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively.
Elsewhere Fillmore had a 0.7 percent population increase with 15,441 estimated residents; Ojai, 7,621 residents, a 0.3 increase and the balance of the county—unincorporated areas—97,497, also a 0.3 percent boost.
Statewide the report estimatesdthat California welcomed 358,000 new residents and was home to 38.7 million people as of January 1.
The state Department of Finance estimates annual population is based on birth and death records, immigration data, new housing units and the number of people per household.
The estimated numbers are important, used as the per capita basis to calculate funds each city and county receives from state programs.
Every decade the estimates are matched with the U.S. Census to establish a baseline.
In the 2010 U.S. Census Santa Paula had a reported population of 29,321, in 2011 the state estimated the population at 29,465; in 2012 an estimated 29,755; 2013 30,101; and in January 2014 the population was estimated at 30,425. The total increase in estimated Santa Paula residents since the 2010 U.S. Census to the January 2015 state estimate is 1,235.
Not all people move because they want to: according to the report Kern County’s Taft had the fastest rate of growth for a city, 6.3 percent, all the result of returning inmates to a correctional facility that reopened in 2014.
Of California’s 483 cities, 421 recorded population gains, 50 lost population and 11 remain unchanged.
