Population growth in the United States has slowed, with an increase of 1.8 million people, or 0.5%, between July 1, 2024, and July 1, 2025, according to new estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. This is the slowest annual growth since the early COVID-19 pandemic period in 2021.
The slowdown follows a significant uptick in growth during 2024, when the population increased by 3.2 million people, or 1.0%. The Census Bureau attributes this recent deceleration mainly to a sharp decline in net international migration.
“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,” said Christine Hartley, assistant division chief for Estimates and Projections at the Census Bureau. “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 accelerated population decline during this period.
The Midwest was unique among regions as all its states saw population gains from July 2024 to July 2025. After earlier declines and modest gains, Midwest states have posted consistent increases over recent years: about 260,000 in 2023; nearly 386,000 in 2024; and over 244,000 in 2025. These gains were partly driven by slight improvements in natural change (births minus deaths).
“From July 2024 through June 2025, the Midwest also saw positive net domestic migration for the first time this decade,” said Marc Perry, senior demographer at the Census Bureau. “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 exemplified this trend: Ohio’s net domestic migration shifted from -32,482 in 2021 to +11,926 in 2025; Michigan moved from -28,290 to +1,796 over that same period.
South Carolina led all states with a population increase of nearly eighty thousand (a rise of about one-and-a-half percent), primarily due to an influx of residents moving from other parts of the country. Idaho and North Carolina followed closely behind with increases also fueled by domestic migration. Texas continued rapid growth through both natural change and international migration despite reduced gains from abroad; Utah’s increase was mainly due to natural change as its international migration slowed.
Between July 1, 2024 and July 1, 2025:
– The U.S. population reached approximately 341.8 million.
– Net international migration fell sharply by more than half compared with the previous year.
– If current trends continue into next year (July 2026), net international migration could drop further by nearly one million people.
– Natural change nationally remained steady at around half a million but is still well below levels seen before recent decades.
Every region grew more slowly than before:
– The South’s rate dropped below one percent for only the second time since 2021.
– The Northeast had its largest decrease—falling from eight-tenths of a percent last year to two-tenths now.
Only five states lost residents: California, Hawaii, New Mexico, Vermont and West Virginia.
More states saw positive natural change (births outpacing deaths) than during previous years—a sign of gradual recovery after pandemic lows.
Florida had high numbers of new residents arriving internationally but saw its lowest level of domestic arrivals since recent years; Alabama surpassed Florida on that measure for this period.
Puerto Rico’s population continued its long-term decline—down by about eighteen thousand—with deaths far exceeding births and negative net migration reversing last year’s gain.
The latest estimates incorporate improved methods using additional administrative data at local levels along with updates to projection techniques.
These annual estimates are part of ongoing work by the Population Estimates Program at https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest.html which calculates changes based on births, deaths and migrations since each decennial census.
Further details—including rankings for most populous states—are available via tables linked at https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2020s-state-total.html . In March next year embargoed releases will cover metro areas and counties along with Puerto Rico municipios; information on schedules can be found at https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/about/schedule.html .
Each annual release revises all prior years’ figures back to the most recent census; users are advised not to compare different vintages directly due to periodic methodological changes.
