CALIFORNIA is still the most populous state in the country, but for the first time in its history, it will be losing one congressional seat, according to data released by the Census Bureau this week.
The Golden State’s population amounted to 39,538,223 residents and will be one of seven states to lose a House of Representatives seat, the bureau said on Monday, April 26 in its release of initial 2020 Census results.
That means California will have 52 seats instead of 53, but will remain the state with the most representatives.
“We know that over the last decade that California has actually experienced natural increase, where they were able to gain population because there were more births to deaths, and they also had positive net international migration,” Karen Battle, chief of the Census Bureau’s population division said during a news conference Monday.
However, California experienced a “negative net domestic migration” wherein there were more people moving out of the state than moving in, she added.
As of April 1, 2020, the number of people living in the United States was 331,449,281.
In the past decade, the country saw the second-lowest population growth in the nation’s history with a 7.4% increase compared to 2010.
While California is the largest, Wyoming has the smallest population with 576,851.
In terms of congressional apportionment, which determines the number of seats in the House, Texas will gain two seats totaling to 38 seats, while Colorado, Florida, Montana, North Carolina and Oregon will gain one seat each.
Meanwhile, California joins six other states — Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia — in losing one seat each. The rest of the 37 states won’t see changes in their representation.
The bureau is set to deliver data for states to redraw state legislative districts no later than September 30.
For the Golden State, the task of redrawing the districts will be handled by the bipartisan California Citizens Redistricting Commission. n
