Orange County cities continued growing last year, combining for a net 1% increase in population to about 3 million.
This week’s Business Journal list ranks the county’s 34 cities by population size based on data as of Jan. 1 and also includes the number of city employees as of last month, along with each city’s budget for the fiscal year ended June 30.
The numbers were either provided by the cities directly to the Business Journal or obtained from municipal budget reports.
Every city had population growth last year, 29 of them posting increases of less than 1%.
OC has eight cities with populations greater than 100,000, combining for about 56% of the county’s total.
All cities together employed 14,479 full- and part-time workers as of July, up 4% from a year earlier.
Their 2013-14 general fund revenues combined for $2.1 billion, up about 3% year-over-year. Eight cities had budget decreases, and the rest had gains, with one posting a double-digit increase.
• Anaheim remained the largest city in the county, with 348,305 residents, up about 0.5% from a year earlier. It took the No. 1 spot a few years ago when its population passed Santa Ana’s.
Anaheim has 2,972 city employees, more than any other city and up by about 2% year-over-year. Its 2013-14 general fund revenue was $246.8 million, up about 3%.
• Santa Ana was No. 2 with 331,953 residents, also up about 0.5%. The city has 1,053 employees.
• No. 3, Irvine, had the biggest increase over the year in terms of percentages and raw numbers. Its population grew by 11,288, or nearly 5%, to 242,651.
The pace of Irvine’s population growth has picked up. The recent increase, which accounted for 41% of the county’s growth, compared with the city’s growth of 7,200 residents in 2012 and a year-earlier gain of 5,300.
The city said in a statement that according to state statistics, it was the fifth-fastest growing city in California by percentage and the fastest-growing by number among cities with populations of less than 300,000.
“There is more to growth than the numbers,” said Craig Reem, director of public affairs and communications. “Irvine’s city council has balanced growth that leverages permanent open space to provide value to our residents and businesses.”
Irvine has 1,015 city employees, up by about 3%. Its general fund revenue was $144.1 million, also up about 3%.
• The city of Huntington Beach kept the No. 4 spot with 195,999 residents, 2,163 of them recent additions. It has 1,375 city workers. Its general fund revenue was $201.7 million, up about 2%.
Two pairs of cities traded rankings this year.
• Fullerton moved up one spot to No. 6, passing Orange.
Fullerton gained 1,665 residents for a total of 140,131. Orange grew by 366 to 139,279.
• Cypress and Rancho Santa Margarita also switched spots on the list, Cypress moving up one spot to No. 22 after a boost of 284 residents to 48,886.
Rancho Santa Margarita followed closely, growing by 228 to 48,834.
Brea
• Brea’s population grew by 1,056 to 42,397, the largest increase among cities with populations of less than 100,000. It ranked No. 24.
A number of revived residential development projects contributed to the recent population boost, said City Manager Tim O’Donnell.
“We had a few large programs that were near ready to be built but were put on pause because of the recession,” he said. “When the recession began to lift, we had two or three pretty large developments that began to gear up.”
He pointed to a few examples, including the La Floresta Master Plan, a 120-acre area at Imperial Highway and Valencia Avenue, zoned for mixed use.
“We’re looking at about 1,200 or 1,300 units being built,” including apartments, condos, senior living facilities and single-family homes, O’Donnell said. “The senior housing part has been up and operating for nearly a year. Hundreds are living there already.”
He added that the city expects to reach a population of about 50,000 once those and planned projects are done.
Brea has 473 city employees after hiring two in the past year. It had $47.2 million in general fund revenue in its latest fiscal year, down about 8% year-over-year.
“That’s a result of our downsizing, a function of the recession,” O’Donnell said. “The major part of that was done during 2010, 2011, where we actually dropped about $4 million out of our operating costs. We [shrank] from nine operating departments to six.
“We’re still functioning under that reduced oversight mode. It’s working pretty well. We [let go of] employees back then, and we had to adjust appropriately. Right now, we’re at the point where we’ll start to think about adding staff back.”
• Other cities with population increases included No. 26, San Juan Capistrano, which grew by 539 residents to 35,900. The city has 88 employees, unchanged from a year earlier. Its budget increased about 6% to $25.3 million.
• Villa Park, No. 34, saw its population grow by 28 last year to 5,935. Villa Park is the smallest city in the county and has seven city employees, down by one. Its general fund revenue totaled $2.9 million, up about 2%.
