Fresno County keeps growing. Here’s how fast compared to other places in California

Whoever said California politics is driving people out of the state might want to make Fresno County an exception.

Most other non-coastal California counties, too.

While the Golden State’s population as a whole has grown at its slowest rate in more than a century, inland counties like Fresno have seen a steady increase.

In Fresno County, the population rose by 7,825 from July 2019 to July 2020 — the fourth-largest boom in the state, according to the latest data provided by the California Department of Finance.

Only Riverside (20,364), Sacramento (13,302) and San Joaquin (8,064) counties had larger population increases over the past year.

Fresno County’s total population, meanwhile, climbed to 1,017,767; it topped 1 million people two years ago.

Leaving California’s high costs

Over the past 10 years, Fresno County has averaged 9,286 new residents annually, so it also has seen slower growth in the past year comparatively.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent mandates and orders issued by Gov. Gavin Newsom are often cited as fueling the migration out of the state.

The demand for housing and climbing prices for homes have played a factor in the exodus as well — especially among coastal counties where housing prices have continued to soar.

Los Angeles County, for example, has a median price of a single-family home at $650,000. In turn, its population has decreased by 40,036.

Only five urban coastal counties — Alameda, Contra Costa, San Diego, San Francisco and Santa Clara — had gains in population.

But in inland counties, such as Fresno, where housing often costs less, populations are growing.

The typical home value in the city of Fresno is roughly $278,000, according to Zillow.

Other central San Joaquin Valley counties

Kings, Madera and Tulare counties also saw growth over the past year.

Tulare had the state’s ninth largest increase with 3,174, bringing its population to 477,071.

Kings had an increase of 1,218 to boost its population to 153,624.

And Madera went up by 1,077 to bring its population to 157,549.

City of Fresno data

While no new information was provided regarding city population, Fresno ranked fifth in population in California, based on data at the start of 2020.

The city of Fresno had an increase of about 3,700 people, bringing the number of residents to 545,769.