[KHTS] – The city of Santa Clarita has maintained its status as the third-largest city in Los Angeles County, with a population growth of 4,055 residents or almost 2 percent between January 2013 and January 2014, according to a report by thestate Department of Finance.

With 209,130 residents, Santa Clarita is behind the city of Long Beach, 470,292 residents, and the city of Los Angeles itself, 3.9 million residents, in terms of size.

The city of Glendale falls into fourth place in L.A. County, with about 196,000 residents.

“The city of Santa Clarita is known for its exceptional quality of life, community-driven leadership and top notch municipal services,” said Mayor Laurene Weste.  “Santa Clarita continues to attract new residents seeking a safe, beautiful place to call home.”

Since it was founded in 1987, Santa Clarita has annexed almost 13 square miles and 45,000 residents into the city limits.

Of last year’s increase, only 40 residents were annexed in. The rest was organic growth, according to City Spokeswoman Gail Morgan.

And while the population is increasing, schools across the Santa Clarita Valley have reported declining enrollment, according to officials with the districts.

This could be attributed to several different factors, Morgan said.

Declining enrollment could be due to the addition of private and charter school choices available to parents in the SCV.

It also could be an indicator that the demographic of the valley is changing, Morgan said, meaning that the population could be aging or that the families moving into Santa Clarita have fewer school-age children.

But no in-depth studies have been done on the topic, she said.

To view the full Department of Finance report, detailing 2014 population totals for California cities, arranged by county, click here.