> "Officials blamed the decrease on declining birth rates, higher deaths from the pandemic and fewer people moving into the state from elsewhere in the US. California lost 117,552 people in 2021, putting its population at 39,185,605, the California department of finance said on Monday."

I only looked at your last two links but while less people are moving to cali, it isn't less people than than those that are moving out. Other factors mentioned above also contributed for the decline.

Honestly though, why do people mention this as a problem. I can only hope it becomes less populated. You could go to death valley on a summer tuesday afternoon and there is still a crowd somewhere.