Population growth in the United States has slowed significantly, with an increase of only 1.8 million people, or 0.5%, between July 1, 2024, and July 1, 2025, according to new Vintage 2025 population estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau.This marks the slowest annual growth rate since the early period of the COVID-19 pandemic, when population growth reached a historic low of 0.2% in 2021. The slowdown follows a year of higher growth in 2024, when the U.S. population increased by 3.2 million people (1%), which was the fastest rate since 2006.Christine Hartley, assistant division chief for Estimates and Projections at the Census Bureau, stated: “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.”Slower growth affected nearly all regions and states across the country except Montana and West Virginia.The Midwest stood out as all its states gained population during this period. After experiencing declines earlier in this decade followed by small gains in recent years, Midwest states saw solid increases: about a quarter-million more residents each year from 2023 through 2025. Slight improvements in natural change—births minus deaths—contributed to these gains.Marc Perry, senior demographer at the Census Bureau said: “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.”Ohio and Michigan were highlighted as examples; Ohio shifted from losing over thirty-two thousand residents due to domestic migration in 2021 to gaining almost twelve thousand by mid-2025; Michigan showed similar improvement.South Carolina led all states with a population increase of nearly eighty thousand people—a rise of about one-and-a-half percent—driven primarily by an influx of new residents moving domestically within the United States rather than internationally. Idaho and North Carolina also saw strong growth due mainly to domestic arrivals; Texas’s rapid expansion resulted from both natural change and international arrivals despite lower gains than previous years; Utah’s increase was fueled mostly by births exceeding deaths as immigration slowed.Between July 1, 2024 and July 1, 2025:- The total U.S. population reached approximately 341.8 million.- Growth slowed compared with last year’s one-percent gain.- Net international migration fell sharply (from 2.7 million down to 1.3 million).- If current trends persist into next year (ending July 1, 2026), projections suggest further declines with net international migration possibly dropping close to three hundred twenty-one thousand.- Natural change nationwide remained near five hundred nineteen thousand—higher than pandemic-era lows but less than half what it was less than ten years ago.All four major census regions grew but at slower rates compared with previous years:- The South’s annual growth slipped below one percent for just its second time since at least 2021.- The Northeast experienced its largest drop-off—from point-eight percent last year down to just point-two percent now.Five states lost residents over this span: California; Hawaii; New Mexico; Vermont; West Virginia.Thirty-three states plus Washington D.C., recorded more births than deaths—a slight uptick over last year but notably higher compared with pandemic levels earlier this decade when only twenty-four did so.International arrivals decreased everywhere compared with last year but remained positive overall—Florida received almost one hundred seventy-nine thousand new international migrants (the highest among states), followed closely by Texas (about one hundred sixty-seven thousand), California (over one hundred nine thousand), and New York (nearly ninety-six thousand).Net movement within America varied:- Thirty-one states had more people moving in than leaving—a small rise versus last year.- Florida’s inflow dropped considerably: it ranked eighth nationally after often topping such lists previously.- Neighboring Alabama attracted slightly more new arrivals than Florida did during this period.Puerto Rico continued its long-term pattern of decline—the island lost over seventeen thousand residents mainly because deaths far exceeded births—and also shifted back toward negative net migration after briefly seeing more arrivals than departures last year.Recent changes reflect updated methodologies that use expanded administrative data sources for improved accuracy at local levels.These figures come from annual updates calculated using current birth/death/migration data since completion of https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/decade/decennial-publications/2010.html“>the most recent decennial census (in
). Today’s release covers national totals along with state-level details—including Washington D.C., Puerto Rico—as well as voting-age populations.In March,the Census Bureau plans further releases detailing metropolitan/micropolitan areasand county-level figures—including Puerto Rico municipios—with embargoes on data before public distribution;
the full release schedule can be found online
.With every update,all prior estimates are revised going backto
;old vintages are archived accordingly;comparisons should be made within matching vintages only dueto periodic methodological changes.
