Estimates released by the California Department of Transportation show the exodus out of the state continuing, with the population expected to decline from about 39 million today to approximately 35.7 million by 2050.
The transportation department began analyzing populations to guide road and highway planning and development in 2000.
Orange County’s population is expected to slide from more than 3.1 million in 2023 to less than 2.8 million by 2050, and planning for Los Angeles County includes an anticipated drop of 1.2 million residents over the same time, the largest loss by county.
Projections for San Francisco are unique in that Caltrans forecasted the population to decline to 836,000 residents by 2050, but due to significant outflows since the pandemic, the city’s population is already far below—at 807,000—this year….