Bay Area population: This is the most populated county in 2024
(KRON) — Newly released numbers on the state’s population were published by the California Department of Finance Demographic Research Unit. Population numbers were broken into each of California’s 58 counties. It also listed year-to-year population changes from 2020 to 2024.
The most populated Bay Area county is Santa Clara, according to the data. As of Jan. 1, there are 1,903,198 residents living in Santa Clara County.
Coming in second was Alameda County (1,641,869). Contra Costa County (1,146,626) was the third-most populous. None of the six other Bay Area counties had more than one million residents. Population numbers for each of the nine Bay Area counties can be viewed in the table below.
US Census breakdown: The largest racial group in each Bay Area county
Most-Populated Bay Area Counties (2024)
Santa Clara: 1,903,198
Alameda: 1,641,869
Contra Costa: 1,146,626
San Francisco: 843,071
San Mateo: 741,565
Sonoma: 478,152
Solano: 446,426
Marin: 252,844
Napa: 135,029
County | 2020 Population | 2024 Population |
Alameda | 1,682,353 | 1,641,869 |
Contra Costa | 1,165,927 | 1,146,626 |
Marin | 262,321 | 252,844 |
Napa | 138,019 | 135,029 |
San Francisco | 873,965 | 843,071 |
San Mateo | 764,442 | 741,565 |
Santa Clara | 1,936,259 | 1,903,198 |
Solano | 453,491 | 446,426 |
Sonoma | 488,863 | 478,152 |
Total | 7,765,640 | 7,588,780 |
Is the population in the Bay Area decreasing?
Every Bay Area county has recorded a population decrease in 2024 compared to what it was in 2020, according to recently released data from the CA Department of Finance.
Not every county had a linear decrease annually. Some counties’ population numbers fluctuated in that four-year span. The 2020 numbers are as of April 1 of that year. The 2024 numbers are as of Jan. 1. See list below.
There was a total of 7,765,640 residents living in the Bay Area in 2020. In 2024, that number fell to 7,588,780.
During this four-year period, population numbers in the Bay Area have been a “mixed bag,” said CA Department of Finance State Demographer Walter Schwarm.
The majority of the region’s nine counties saw an increase in population from 2023, with the exception of Alameda, Marin and San Mateo counties. Schwarm said Solano County, Napa and American Canyon saw a lot of growth.
“It could just be people moving around within the Bay Area, choosing to find slightly different housing opportunities,” he said.
Coastal counties record population decrease while inland counties increase
Population in coastal counties (i.e. San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Mateo, etc.) has decreased while more counties inland (i.e. Sacramento, San Bernardino and Riverside counties) have had their populations increased in the last few years, according to Schwarm.
“There’s a lot of this distributive movement within California,” Schwarm said.
Schwarm said a primary reason for that is people — despite working in major metros like San Francisco and Los Angeles — are looking for more affordability in housing that they might not find in cities closer to the coast. He added that people are willing to accept a longer commute to work in exchange for affordable housing because some jobs don’t require them to commute five days a week.
“We saw people willing to commute longer distances,” Schwarm said. “I think it’s even more attractive now that individuals may not have to commute every single day of the week.”
To put the Bay Area’s population numbers into context, here are the population numbers for California’s other major metro area: Los Angeles.
According to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Los Angeles (city) recorded a population of 3,822,238 in 2022. Los Angeles County has a population of 9,663,345 in 2023 — a drop of roughly 300,000 from the prior year.
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CA population starting to increase again after three years of decline
In California, the overall population also fell in 2024 compared to 2020. The state’s population went from 39,538,223 four years ago to 39,128,162 today.
In 2023, California’s overall population dipped to 39,061,058. However, the population this year increased, which Schwarm says is “significant.”
“It’s significant we are actually growing again,” he said. “After three years of declining population, this is really based on a couple of issues. We are having a reasonable amount of international immigrants again. That was lower for a while because of COVID-19 pandemic issues…The other obvious one is births are lower again”
Schwarm added that California COVID-19 deaths are back down after a rise in 2020 and 2021.
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