Bay Area home to four of the fastest growing cities

The California Department of Finance released figures today on the state's growth in 2000, showing that the Bay area includes four of the fastest growing cities and three of the fastest growing counties.

San Jose and San Francisco, which are the third and fourth largest cities in the state, were the fourth and fifth fastest growing cities based on the number of people moving there. San Jose's population increased by 13,700 people, or 1.5 percent, to 918,000. San Francisco's population increased by 11,800, or 1.5 percent, to 793,700.

Based on percentages, Brentwood in Contra Costa County was the fifth fastest growing city in the state with a 13.9 percent increase last year, while Dublin in Alameda County sits in ninth place with a 10.3 increase.

Santa Clara, Alameda and Contra Costa counties are, respectively, the seventh, eighth and ninth fastest growing counties in the state as well as the fifth, seventh and ninth largest. Santa Clara County's population is now more than 1.7 million, Alameda County's is more than 1.4 million and Contra Costa has 972,000 residents.

More than 34.8 million people call themselves Californians, a number that was boosted by an additional 611,000 people moving here last year. The 1.8 percent increase, the state says, is the result of job growth.

Overall, Los Angeles remains the largest city and county in the state with more than 3.8 million people living in the city and more the 9.8 million people living in the county.

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