Census: Riverside County Sees Highest Population Growth in State

Riverside County was the fastest-growing county in California in the last decade, according to a report released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The report, based on 2010 Census numbers, showed a population of 2.19 million in Riverside County--an increase of 644,254 people with a growth rate of 41.7 percent.

While Riverside County is one of the top five largest counties in the state, other counties show a much less dramatic increase in population. The largest county is Los Angeles, with a population of 9.82 million. Its population grew by 3.1 percent since 2000. The other counties in the top five include San Diego, with a population of 3.10 million (increase of 10.0 percent); Orange, 3.01 million (increase of 5.8 percent);  and San Bernardino, 2.04 million (increase of 19.1 percent).

The next-closest county in percentage growth was the much smaller Placer
County in Northern California at 40.3 percent.   

Riverside is the fourth-largest county in the state in terms of population, just ahead of San Bernardino County, with 2.04 million.

Population figures for indivdiual communities are expected to be released this afternoon. Check back with Murrieta Patch for a snapshot of Murrieta's census data.

City News Service contributed to this report.