LOCAL : State Population Hits 29 Million

SACRAMENTO — California’s population has reached 29.1 million, giving the state about 11.7% of the total population of the United States, state officials reported today.

The estimate, reflecting the state’s population as of last July 1, was 740,000 higher than the year before, and about 23% more than California’s population at the beginning of the decade, 23,668,049.

Los Angeles County remained the most populous of the state’s 58 counties, at 8.7 million, followed by San Diego County with 2.45 million and Orange County with 2.3 million.

The fastest growing county in California was Amador, which had about 30,000 inhabitants, an increase of 7.5% over the previous year. San Bernardino County reported a 6.8% rise to nearly 1.38 million, while El Dorado County east of Sacramento had a 6.4% increase to 128,900.