Example Image
Civitas Outlook
Topic
Pursuit of Happiness
Published on
Apr 1, 2025
Contributors
Joel Kotkin
Photo by Jordan Crawford on Unsplash

California’s Population Bump Won’t Make Up for Its Long Term Slide

Contributors
Joel Kotkin
Joel Kotkin
Senior Research Fellow
Joel Kotkin
Summary
People are leaving, or not coming to California, for rational reasons — and most of them are economic.
Summary
People are leaving, or not coming to California, for rational reasons — and most of them are economic.
Listen to this article

When the U.S. Census Bureau recently revealed a small increase in California’s population, it came as a welcome sign to some that the state was growing again. The data even showed a slightly reduced level of out-migration.

Good news, right? Unfortunately, not good enough.

Last year’s count still leaves the state’s numbers below where they stood in 2020, and its growth rate is below the national average and well below that of key competitor states: Comparing census numbers from 2010 to 2024, California’s population has increased by less than 6%; in Texas, Arizona, North Carolina, Georgia and Utah, the increases range from 15% to nearly 30%.

Continue reading at the Los Angeles Times

10:13
1x
10:13
More articles

Chernow Speaks of Twain But Doesn’t Know His Words

Pursuit of Happiness
Sep 12, 2025

Conservatism's Timeless Triad: Puritans, Pioneers, and Robber Barons

Politics
Sep 12, 2025
View all

Join the newsletter

Receive new publications, news, and updates from the Civitas Institute.

Sign up
More on

Pursuit of Happiness

How to Save Our Urban Centers

What will the future of American cities look like?

Joel Kotkin
Pursuit of Happiness
Jun 26, 2025
National Poll from Civitas Institute: Americans Concerned About AI, Economic Issues

The Civitas Institute Poll, conducted from March 11-20, 2025, asked 1,200 Americans an array of questions about how things are going in the country.

Daron Shaw
Pursuit of Happiness
Jun 11, 2025
Divorce, Family Arrangements, and Children's Adult Outcomes

This paper uses linked tax and Census records for over 5 million children to examine how divorce affects family arrangements and children's long-term outcomes.

Andrew C. Johnston
Pursuit of Happiness
May 22, 2025
Estimating the Productivity of Community Colleges in Paving the Road To Four-Year College Success

Despite a relatively rich literature on the community college pathway, the research base on the quality differences between these institutions has been decidedly thin.

Scott Carrell, Michal Kurlaender
Pursuit of Happiness
Feb 7, 2025
No items found.
Exodus: Affordability Crisis Sends Americans Packing From Big Cities

The first in a two-part series about the Great Dispersion of Americans across the country.

Joel Kotkin, Wendell Cox
Pursuit of Happiness
Sep 9, 2025
Stanford’s Graduate Student Union Tries to Stifle Dissent

The university may fire me because I won’t pay dues to a labor organization whose views I find repugnant.

Jonathan Hartley
Pursuit of Happiness
Aug 29, 2025
The 529 Education Revolution Is Here

Tax-free accounts have become more powerful, but some states are resisting.

Michael Toth, Dan Lips
Pursuit of Happiness
Aug 28, 2025
The Next Californias

Colorado, Washington, and Oregon have adopted many of the policies contributing to the Golden State’s decline.

Joel Kotkin
Pursuit of Happiness
Aug 25, 2025

Arthur Brooks on the Secret to a Fulfilling Life

Pursuit of Happiness
Jul 7, 2025
1:05

Populism Unpacked: Voices from the Heartland

Pursuit of Happiness
Mar 4, 2025
1:05

Jeff Rosen on What “The Pursuit of Happiness” Meant to America's Founders

Pursuit of Happiness
Jan 26, 2025
1:05

Arthur C. Brooks on the Pursuit of Happiness in an Unhappy World

Pursuit of Happiness
May 8, 2024
1:05

Arthur C. Brooks on The Art & Science of Getting Happier: Live at The Texas Tribune

Pursuit of Happiness
Mar 29, 2024
1:05
No items found.
No items found.
Chernow Speaks of Twain But Doesn’t Know His Words

Chernow is always speaking of Twain but never captures his literary essence.

Lee Oser
Pursuit of Happiness
Sep 12, 2025
Adam Smith in the Shadow of Thucydides

Capital has the effect of enlarging our sensibilities and imagination, lifting us above immediate and violent passions.

Graham McAleer
Pursuit of Happiness
Sep 5, 2025
Urban Designing for Dignity

What nature can teach urban planners about trust, health, and belonging.

Samuel J. Abrams
Pursuit of Happiness
Sep 3, 2025
What Evil Can and Cannot Teach Us

Reading Andrew Klavan's "The Kingdom of Cain," a meditation on how we learn about love and creation from evil.

Nathaniel Peters
Pursuit of Happiness
Aug 29, 2025
No items found.