Population growth in the United States slowed between July 1, 2024, and July 1, 2025, with an increase of only 1.8 million people, or 0.5%, according to new estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. This marks the slowest growth since the early COVID-19 pandemic period, when the population grew by just 0.2% in 2021.
Christine Hartley, assistant division chief for Estimates and Projections at the Census Bureau, said: “The slowdown in U.S. population growth is largely due to a historic decline in net international migration, which dropped from 2.7 million to 1.3 million in the period from July 2024 through June 2025. With births and deaths remaining relatively stable compared to the prior year, the sharp decline in net international migration is the main reason for the slower growth rate we see today.”
All four census regions and every state except Montana and West Virginia experienced either slower growth or faster decline during this period.
The Midwest was unique as all its states gained population from July 2024 to July 2025. The region saw steady gains over recent years: after declines in earlier years, it added more than 244,000 people in this latest period. Slight increases in natural change (births minus deaths) contributed to this trend.
Marc Perry, senior demographer at the Census Bureau, noted: “From July 2024 through June 2025, the Midwest also saw positive net domestic migration for the first time this decade. And while the net domestic migration was a relatively modest 16,000, this is still a notable turnaround from the substantial domestic migration losses in 2021 and 2022 of -175,000 or greater.”
States such as Ohio and Michigan demonstrated this shift; Ohio’s net domestic migration improved from -32,482 in 2021 to nearly +12,000 in 2025; Michigan’s figure moved from -28,290 to almost +1,800 over that same span.
South Carolina led all states with a population increase of about 80,000 people (a rise of 1.5%), mainly driven by domestic migration gains of more than 66,000 residents. Idaho (up by about 1.4%) and North Carolina (up by about 1.3%) also saw strong growth due to similar factors. Texas grew by roughly 1.2%, with both natural change and international migration contributing despite a sharp slowdown in international arrivals compared to previous years.
Utah’s population rose mainly due to natural change rather than international migration—a reversal from last year when immigration was its largest contributor.
Nationally, net international migration fell sharply—by nearly half—from about 2.7 million between mid-2023 and mid-2024 down to around 1.3 million between mid-2024 and mid-2025; if current trends continue it could fall further by next year.
Natural change nationwide remained near last year’s level at approximately half a million but is much lower than previous decades when annual natural change often exceeded one million.
All four U.S regions posted population gains during this period but at slower rates than recent years; notably growth slowed most sharply in the Northeast.
Five states—California, Hawaii, New Mexico, Vermont and West Virginia—lost population between July 2024 and July 2025.
More states had positive natural change compared with previous years: thirty-three states plus Washington D.C., up slightly from last year but significantly higher than during pandemic lows earlier this decade.
Every state plus D.C., however, saw lower levels of net international migration compared with last year though these numbers remained positive overall; Florida (about +179k), Texas (+167k), California (+109k), and New York (+96k) had highest totals for international arrivals during this period.
Thirty-one states had positive net domestic migration—an increase over last year—with Alabama surpassing Florida for inbound moves as Florida’s figure dropped sharply compared with prior years.
Puerto Rico’s population declined by nearly eighteen thousand people (down 0.6%) as deaths continued to outnumber births on the island—a pattern seen since at least 2020—and negative net migration returned after one year of gains.
The latest estimates reflect updated methods including use of additional administrative data at subnational levels and adjustments for short-term projections; more details are available on the Census Bureau’s Random Samplings blog.
These annual estimates are produced using current data on births, deaths and migrations since the most recent decennial census (conducted in 2020). They include totals for all fifty states plus D.C., Puerto Rico and voting-age populations nationwide.
In March next year—the Census Bureau plans further releases covering metropolitan areas/counties along with detailed breakdowns for Puerto Rico municipios; embargoed data will be provided ahead of public release as outlined on the official schedule.
Each new release revises past annual estimates back to the date of the last census; older vintages are archived online but comparisons should only be made within each vintage due to periodic methodological updates.
