Heads Up: O.C. Population Reached 2.8 Million in ’99

Orange County’s population grew to 2.8 million last year, increasing at the third-fastest pace in the state, new figures show.

The number of residents here rose by 49,800 from July 1998 to July 1999, an increase of 1.8%, the California Department of Finance said Wednesday in its annual population report.

Only two counties added more people: Los Angeles, which grew by 150,200 residents, or 1.6%, to 9.8 million and San Diego, up 55,200, or 2%, to 2.9 million.

California’s population rose by about 542,000 to just over 34 million, an increase of 1.6%.

“If anything was surprising, it’s that I would have expected it to be a little higher than it turned out to be, because jobs are expanding so rapidly,” said Mary Heim, a demographer for the Department of Finance.

In Orange County, the population increase came from immigration from other countries and from births. The only category in which the county had a net loss was in migration within the United States; about 700 more people left than arrived, the report indicated.

“It might have been people moving . . . to buy houses in Riverside and San Bernardino,” where home prices are lower, Heim said.

The latest growth rates follow a general trend since 1996, when the population increased as California’s strong economy created jobs.