A Demographic and Electoral Profile
California, which rapidly gained population during the Gold Rush of 1848, joined the union in September 1850 as part of the Compromise of 1850. Until 2010, the state gained at least one electoral vote after each Census reapportionment (no reapportionment after the 1920 Census). In 1972, California reached 45 electoral votes, passing New York for most in the country. The state lost an electoral vote for the first time after the 2020 Census, but with 54 it will still have more than 10% of the 538 total.
While growth in the Latino population has helped make California a reliably Democratic state today, this was not always the case. In fact, from 1952 through 1988, Republicans won every presidential election except the landslide loss of Barry Goldwater in 1964. In 2020, Joe Biden won the state by about 30 points over Donald Trump. This marked the fourth consecutive election that the Democratic nominee has surpassed.
California is the most populated state in the US, boasting an estimated 2023 population of 40,223,504 people and making up nearly 12% of the national population. Even though it is the country's 3rd largest state by area, the "Golden State") The population density is 258 people/mi², the 11th-highest in the country. Los Angeles/Long Beach/Anaheim and San Francisco/Oakland are the US's second-most- and 14th-most-populated urban areas. With approximately 13,200,000 residents in its metropolitan area, Los Angeles is the most populous city in California and the second-most-heavily populated in the United States, exceeded only by New York City.
California has the largest economy and highest gross domestic product (GDP) of any US state, with current-dollar GDP projected to exceed $3.6 trillion by the end of 2022. It is, in fact, the largest subnational economy in the world (Texas and New York are second and third). If California were a country, its economy would rank as the fourth—or fifth-highest in the world.
California is the most culturally diverse state in the US and boasts the second-largest family size per state, behind only Utah. News stories about the number of people leaving California for other states can be misleading. California is not losing population and has experienced a 7.97% growth rate—higher than that of 26 other states—since the 2010 census.
Thanks in large part to its massive population, in terms of raw numbers (rather than percentages), California is home to the most veterans, the most homeless people (161,548),, the most immigrants, the most transgender individuals,, and the highest total number of Hispanic residents of any state in the US.
California's population is 39,538,223, which makes the state the most populous by a wide margin, over 2nd place in Texas (29 million).
The population is projected to surpass 42 million by 2030. However, population growth has decreased in recent years, which may affect these projections.
Numerous Native American peoples have inhabited California since antiquity. The Spanish, the Russians, and other Europeans began exploring and colonizing the area in the 16th and 17th centuries, with the Spanish establishing its first California mission at San Diego in 1769. After the Mexican Cession of 1848, the California Gold Rush brought worldwide attention to the area. The growth of the movie industry in Los Angeles and the other regions in the ensuing decades fueled the creation of a $3 trillion economy as of 2018, which would rank fifth in the world if the state were a sovereign nation.
California is divided into 58 counties and contains 482 municipalities. One, San Francisco, is a consolidated city-county. California law makes no distinction between "city" and "town"; municipalities may use either term in their official names.
California is the third-largest state by area, with a population density of 251.3 people per square mile, which ranks 11th in the country.
In religious terms, 63% of Californians associate with a Christian-based faith, 9% are with non-Christian religions, and have a rate of 27% unaffiliated individuals.
White: 52.09%
Other race: 15.3%
Asian: 14.92%
Two or more races: 10.73%
Black or African American: 5.66%
Native American: 0.91%
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander: 0.38%
One million Muslims reside in California (1%). 9.6 million Californians live in hard-to-count census tracts. 2.5 million children under age five live in hard-to-count census tracts, which ranks first among all states. It has the highest percentage of foreign-born residents (27%).
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