Editing Central Valley (California) (section)

==Population==
[[File:California Central Valley Aerial.jpg|thumb|The Central Valley from the air, looking south from near [[Rio Vista, California|Rio Vista]]]]

Subregions and their counties commonly associated with the valley include:<ref name="overview">{{cite web|access-date=July 27, 2009|archive-date=May 3, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090503170012/http://www.library.ca.gov/CRB/97/09/|publisher=California State Library|title=A Statistical Tour of California's Great Central Valley|url=http://www.library.ca.gov/crb/97/09/|url-status=live|work=California Research Bureau}}</ref>
* North Sacramento Valley (all or parts of [[Shasta County, California|Shasta]], [[Tehama County, California|Tehama]], [[Glenn County, California|Glenn]], [[Butte County, California|Butte]] and [[Colusa County, California|Colusa]] counties)
* Sacramento Metropolitan area (all or parts of [[Sacramento County, California|Sacramento]], [[El Dorado County, California|El Dorado]], [[Sutter County, California|Sutter]], [[Yuba County, California|Yuba]], [[Yolo County, California|Yolo]] and [[Placer County, California|Placer]] counties)
* North San Joaquin (all or parts of [[San Joaquin County, California|San Joaquin]], [[Stanislaus County, California|Stanislaus]] and [[Merced County, California|Merced]] counties)
* South San Joaquin (all or parts of [[Madera County, California|Madera]], [[Fresno County, California|Fresno]], [[Kings County, California|Kings]], [[Tulare County, California|Tulare]] and [[Kern County, California|Kern]] counties)

The four main population centers in the Central Valley area are roughly equidistant from each other. From south to north, they are [[Bakersfield, California|Bakersfield]], [[Fresno, California|Fresno]], [[Sacramento, California|Sacramento]] and [[Redding, California|Redding]]. 

The table displays the counties of Central Valley and their respective population during the 2020 US Decennial Census.  Total jobs for each county is from the U.S. Census Bureau, OnTheMap Application and LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (Beginning of Quarter Employment, 2nd Quarter of 2002–2020).
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! County
! Population
! Jobs
|-
|Butte County
|211,632
|73,219
|-
|Colusa County
|21,839
|7,834
|-
|Fresno County
|1,008,654
|374,478
|-
|Glenn County
|28,917
|9,314
|-
|Kern County
|909,235
|282,227
|-
|Kings County
|152,486
|43,542
|-
|Madera County
|156,255
|49,285
|-
|Merced County
|281,202
|74,470
|-
|Placer County
|404,739
|166,372
|-
|Sacramento County
|1,585,055
|669,429
|-
|San Joaquin County
|779,233
|247,406
|-
|Shasta County
|182,155
|61,665
|-
|Stanislaus County
|552,878
|184,916
|-
|Sutter County
|99,633
|29,951
|-
|Tehama County
|65,829
|17,735
|-
|Tulare County
|473,117
|157,971
|-
|Yolo County
|216,403
|106,643
|-
|Yuba County
|81,575
|16,937
|}

===Metropolitan areas===
As of 2020, some 7.2&nbsp;million people lived in the Central Valley; it was the fastest-growing region in California.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/californias-central-valley-finds-itself-on-the-political-map |title=California's Central Valley Finds Itself on the Political Map |last=Jennings |first=Joanne Elgart |publisher=PBS Newshour |date=November 1, 2010 |access-date=January 23, 2018 |quote=About 6.5 million people live here, making it the state's fastest-growing region, according to the 2010 U.S. Census. Between 1990 and 2009, the population here grew 44 percent (compared with 24 percent growth statewide). |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180125015148/https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/californias-central-valley-finds-itself-on-the-political-map |archive-date=January 25, 2018  }}</ref> It includes 12 [[Metropolitan Statistical Areas]] (MSA) and 1 [[Micropolitan Statistical Areas|Micropolitan Statistical Area]] (μSA). Below, they are listed by MSA and μSA population. The largest city is [[Fresno, California|Fresno]] followed by the state capital [[Sacramento, California|Sacramento]]. The following metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas are listed from largest to smallest:
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! SMSA !!Population
|-
| [[Greater Sacramento|Sacramento Metropolitan Area]] ||2,527,123
|-
| [[Metropolitan Fresno|Fresno Metropolitan Area]] ||930,450
|-
| [[Kern County, California|Bakersfield Metropolitan Area]] ||839,361
|-
| [[San Joaquin County, California|Stockton Metropolitan Area]] ||696,214
|-
| [[Stanislaus County, California|Modesto Metropolitan Area]] ||518,522
|-
| [[Tulare County, California|Visalia–Porterville Metropolitan Area]] ||449,253
|-
| [[Merced County, California|Merced Metropolitan Area]] ||259,898
|-
| [[Butte County, California|Chico Metropolitan Area]] ||220,266
|-
| [[Shasta County, California|Redding Metropolitan Area]] ||177,774
|-
| [[Yuba City Metropolitan Statistical Area|Yuba City Metropolitan Area]] ||167,497
|-
| [[Kings County, California|Hanford–Corcoran Metropolitan Area]] ||153,765
|-
| [[Madera County, California|Madera Metropolitan Area]] ||152,925
|-
| [[Tehama County, California|Red Bluff Micropolitan Area]] ||63,601
|}

===Ethnography===
After English and [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]] is the third most commonly spoken language in the Central Valley.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sewell |first=Summer |date=2021-02-08 |title='This has to end peacefully': California's Punjabi farmers rally behind India protests |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/08/california-indian-farmers-protest-sikh-punjab-yuba-city |access-date=2022-11-27 |work=[[The Guardian]] |quote=Community members have also raised funds to support billboards drawing attention to India’s protests throughout the Central Valley, where Punjabi is the third-most spoken language, after English and Spanish.}}</ref> The valley has the largest [[Sikhism in the United States|Sikh population in the nation]].