What's in a number? And why care about the size of your population? Does it mean a bigger tax base? Does it mean longer lines at the grocery store? What about parking? Does a larger population mean fewer spots when you head downtown?
Or does a larger population mean more people to call neighbors, an added classmate for your child or another pair of eyes to keep watch when you're not home?
Either way you look at it, Gilroy's population is growing.
The Department of Finance released population estimate numbers for January 2012 today as well as state rankings for the 482 cities within California.
Each city was ranked by population size and of the 482 cities, 412 saw gains while 68 had a decrease in population.
Gilroy saw an increase in its population base by 842 residents or a 1.7 percent increase since January 2011. 'Roy comes in as the 172nd largest city in California. By comparison, its neighbor Morgan Hill gained 872 residents and ranks 203rd largest city in the state.
Below are some charts comparing our local cities and the changes, and rankings made.
Pop. 1/1/11 Pop. 1/1/12 % of change Santa Clara County 1,794,337 1,816,486 +1.2 California 37,427,946 37,678,563 +0.7Pop. 1/1/11 Pop. 1/1/12 % of change State Ranking Campbell 39,610 39,882 +0.7 201 San Jose 957,369 971,372 +1.5 3 Los Gatos 29,613 29,854 +0.8 239
Pop. 1/1/11 Pop. 1/1/12 % of change State Ranking Cupertino 58,665 59,022 +0.6 144 San Jose 957,369 971,372 +1.5 3 Sunnyvale 140, 898 142,896 +1.4 39 Santa Clara 117, 998 118,813 +0.7 49
Pop. 1/1/11 Pop. 1/1/12 % of change State Ranking Gilroy 49,316 50,158 +1.7 172 San Jose 957,369 971,372 +1.5 3 Morgan Hill* 38,255 39,127 +2.3 203
Morgan Hill had the largest change in population within Santa Clara County, with a 2.3 percent increase.
Pop. 1/1/11 Pop. 1/1/12 % of change State Ranking Los Gatos 29,613 29,854 +0.8 239 San Jose Monte Sereno* 3,360 3,373 +0.4 443 Saratoga 30,153 30,363 +0.7 234Monte Sereno had the smallest change in population within Santa Clara County, with a 0.4 percent increase.
Information was gathered from the reports released by the California Department of Finance.
