California population adds 215K, inches toward 40 million

California’s population has grown by 215,000 people but is still shy of 40 million.

Numbers released Friday show the state’s population hit 39.8 million as of July 1, 2018.

The population growth was driven by more births than deaths and an addition of 21,000 people to the state through migration. That means more people entered California than left between July 2017 and 2018.

The highest growth rates were in inland counties such as Amador, Placer and Merced. Some counties mostly in rural areas lost population.

California’s population far exceeds that of any other state. Texas is the second most populous state at nearly 29 million, followed by Florida and New York.

The state’s population has grown by 2.6 million people since the 2010 census.