With even more people moving to other states, California’s traditionally strong population growth has come to a near halt. From July of last year to July of this year, the increase was only five-hundredths of a percent, the lowest recorded in modern history. Meanwhile, in Nevada County, we lost 306 residents. County Planner Brian Foss says that’s nothing dramatic. But he also points out we’ve had mostly minor increases over the last decade…

Foss says the numbers are used mostly for the Housing Element and other long-range planning purposes…

Foss the lack of affordable housing may also be a factor in a sluggish growth rate or drop in population. The county’s population, as of July, was 96-thousand-657. Looking at neighboring counties, Sacramento County had the second-highest numerical gain among the 58 counties. Placer County ranked 12th and Yuba County was 19th.