Some companies are packing up and leaving California in favor of business-friendly policies and lower living costs in states like Texas and Florida.
During the pandemic companies like Oracle announced plans to relocate headquarters from California to Texas.
The California Republican Party blaming Governor Gavin Newsom and Democrats. Newsom did not immediately comment on the state population numbers.
California's loss of a House seat also means a possible dip in federal funding for Medi-Cal, in addition to funding for highways, schools, and a wide array of community services that are based on population.
"So the state has grown and it's just not growing at the same rate as the rest of the country. And that can come from multiple kinds of issues," explained Paul Mitchell, a political consultant with Redistricting Partners. "It can come from people leaving the state. But that's maybe the thing that's overestimated. The actual bigger impact could be the changing and birth rates among Californians."
Births also are down while deaths have increased. Those losses typically are offset by international immigration into the state.
Officials say that's happening across the country but at a slightly fast rate in California.
Just because California's growth has slowed doesn't mean the state is in decline. Since the last census, the state's population grew 6.1 percent, which ranked 24th nationally.
