California's Population Moves Northward

The "population center" is a statistical construct that designates the midpoint where the Northern and Southern California populations are equally balanced on either side. For the first time in a century, that midpoint has moved northward.

1 minute read

April 19, 2011, 7:00 AM PDT

By Tim Halbur

The population center lands in Kern County, 1.7 miles northeast of its previous location. The new spot indicates that the population of Northern California is growing faster than Southern California. The population center is an important bit of data, because in the past it helped determine the location of the state capital:

"When politicians chose Vallejo as the state capital, then later moved it to Benicia and ultimately Sacramento, the center of California's political power was never far from what the U.S. Census Bureau calls the mean center of population. Demographers pin the point with a formula involving latitude, longitude and the weighted population of each of the state's 710,000 census blocks."

FULL STORY: California's population center is in an alfalfa field

Sunday, April 17, 2011 in The Contra Costa Times

Social / Demographics California Population Population Center

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