U.S. Census Data about Petaluma to be Released Today

Stay tuned: California communities gain a more detailed look at how they've grown in the past decade, when the U.S. Census Bureau issues results from the 2010 count later this afternoon. We'll find how how much Petaluma has grown since the official count of 54,548 inhabitants in 2000.

The data — divided by census blocks, voting districts, cities, counties and school districts — includes information on population, race, ethnicity and voting age. The most recent estimate on Petaluma's population was 55,178 in July 2009, just behind the 2000 official count. That estimate ranked Petaluma as No. 150 among all California cities, just ahead of No. 155 Novato (53,450) and just behind No. 145 San Rafael (55,902).

In December, the bureau released state population information used to determine the redistricting of state representation in national government. In 2010, eight states gained congressional seats, but for the first time since 1920 California wasn't one of them — due to inordinately slow population growth over the last decade. California's population was 37.25 million in 2010, an almost 10 percent population increase since 2000, and right on par with the country's 9.7 percent population growth. So, California retains its 53 seats in the House of Representatives

The Census Bureau said the report should be released around 12:30 p.m. and will be available for download here.

Check back on Petaluma Patch later today for analysis and details.