Even a pandemic couldn't stop the population and housing boom in this Sacramento suburb Sacramento Bee 4 hrs ago Darrell Smith, The Sacramento Bee May 7—It's never happened before. California's population shrank for the first time in 2020. By the numbers, that's 182,083, or 0.46%, a decline slightly larger than the population of Elk Grove. Any drop in the Golden State is big news — a first-ever 12-month decline for California, the state Department of Finance said Friday — attributed to fewer births, changes to federal immigration policy that slowed migration and deaths from COVID-19. But look inside the state population figures released Friday and it shows Elk Grove residents what they already see and feel.