The State - News from April 4, 1989

The 150-year-old rush to live in the Golden State has swelled the population to 28.3 million, making one of every 11 people in the nation a Californian, researchers in Sacramento said. The population estimate for the fiscal year ending last July 1, up a record 662,000 over the year before, places California more than 10 million people ahead of the next largest state, New York, with 17.8 million, said officials in the state Finance Department’s demographic research unit. “We just have too much to offer everyone, I guess,” said John Malson, a manager in the unit. The migration into California outstripped the number who left, adding 372,000 to the population and accounting for 56% of the overall increase. The other 44% in population growth was due to births totaling 504,000 and deaths 215,000.