Orange County’s population expanded by about 29,000 people last year, or a hair under 1%, ending 2015 at slightly above 3 million.
This week’s Business Journal list ranks the 34 cities here by population as of Jan. 1.
The list also gives the number of city employees as of the end of July and general fund revenue for the 2015-16 fiscal year, which ended June 30, although those figures don’t affect the rankings.
A city’s general fund is unallocated money generated by taxing businesses and property owners and can be used for any purpose, such as developing public safety programs or helping a homeless shelter.
The figures were obtained from the cities directly or from municipal budget reports.
The rankings remain the same except for two cities that swapped spots. Lake Forest and Buena Park’s populations are just about 550 people apart.
None of the cities shrank in population. The average city grew a little less than 1%, and a handful grew 2% or more.
The population growth could have contributed to a boost in most of the cities’ general funds, which collectively increased $142 million, or 6.4%. Four cities cut their general fund budgets.
Top Five
The top five OC cities continued to dominate size-wise, accounting for about 44% of OC municipalities’ population.
• Anaheim kept the No. 1 spot with a population of 358,136, up 0.7%, or 2,639 new residents.
The city’s general fund grew to $290 million, a year-over-year increase of about 9%. It employs 3,018.
Anaheim has benefited from tax revenues from sports fans attending games of the National Hockey League’s Anaheim Ducks and the National Baseball League’s Anaheim Angels—and through hotel tax revenues generated by families visiting Disneyland’s 60th anniversary events, said Michael Lyster, the city’s chief communications officer.
“About 25 million people visit Anaheim, take hotel rooms” and pay a 15% tax, he said. “Those (taxes) are about 50% of the Anaheim city budget.”
Anaheim’s elected officials used a portion of the increased revenue to strengthen neighborhood after-school programs, improve fire and paramedic services, and hire 10 more police officers. The city plans to hire an additional 40 police officers within the next four years to return its force to prerecession levels.
• Santa Ana ranks second with 342,930 residents, up 0.6%. Its general fund grew about 8% to about $226 million. The city employs 1,454.
• Irvine is No. 3 with a 2.6% increase in residents—one of a handful of cities with a population increase higher than 1%—for a population of 258,386. It added the most residents among all OC cities: 6,650. Its general fund increased 7% to about $173 million. Irvine employs 1,124.
• Huntington Beach is No. 4 with 195,212 residents, up 1.4%. Its general fund increased about 7% to about $225 million. The city employs 1,414.
• Garden Grove rounds out the top five with a population of 177,303, up 0.6%. The city’s general fund added about $7.3 million for a total of about $97 million. It employs 775.
Flip Flop
Lake Forest and Buena Park flipped spots this year, taking No. 12 and No. 13, respectively.
The former had the greatest percentage increase in population, up 3.7% for 83,910
residents. Its general fund was at about
$44.2 million, up about 8%. The city employs 172.
Buena Park added 400 residents for a total of 83,347. Its general fund increased about 4% to about $59.8 million. It employs 423.
General Fund Cuts
Four municipalities said they drew from their general funds.
• Rancho Santa Margarita, No. 23, cut down its general fund by about 4% to $17.2 million. The city’s growth was flat at 48,516 residents. It employs 29.
• San Juan Capistrano, No. 26, made the biggest cut to its general funds: 6.8%, or a drop of about $1.7 million to about $23.5 million. The city had a population of 36,085, up about 1%. It employs 90.
• Dana Point, No. 27, withdrew about 2.3% from its general fund to end with $32.7 million. The 27-year-old city had 33,415 residents, up 0.6%, and employs 80.
• Laguna Beach, No. 30, pulled about $475,000 from its general funds account, leaving it with about $54.5 million in its coffers. The city had 23,617 residents, up 0.6%, and employs 577.
