Population growth in the United States has slowed to its lowest rate since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau. Between July 1, 2024, and July 1, 2025, the nation’s population increased by only 1.8 million people, or 0.5%, reaching a total of 341.8 million.
This slowdown follows a period of faster growth from 2023 to 2024, when the country added 3.2 million people and grew by 1.0%, which was the fastest annual rate since 2006.
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 nearly every state experienced slower growth or an acceleration in population decline during this period; only Montana and West Virginia did not follow this trend.
The Midwest stood out as all states in that region gained population between July 2024 and July 2025. The region also saw positive net domestic migration for the first time this decade. Marc Perry, senior demographer at the Census Bureau, stated: “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 showed significant improvement in their net domestic migration numbers compared to previous years.
South Carolina led all states with a population increase of about 79,958 people (1.5%), primarily due to gains from domestic migration—though this was down slightly from its increase last year. Idaho (1.4%) and North Carolina (1.3%) also posted strong growth rates driven by similar factors.
Texas experienced rapid growth at a rate of about 1.2%, supported by both natural change (births minus deaths) and international migration despite slowing gains from abroad. Utah’s population grew mainly due to natural change as well.
Net international migration across all states declined sharply compared to previous years but remained positive overall for each state and Washington D.C., with Florida (178,674), Texas (167,475), California (109,278), and New York (95,634) recording some of the highest levels.
Natural change nationally was nearly unchanged from last year at about 519,000 but remains lower than pre-pandemic levels seen earlier in recent decades.
The South’s regional population growth fell below one percent for only the second time since at least 2021; meanwhile, Northeast states saw their annual growth drop more significantly than other regions—from an increase of around .8% last year down to .2%.
Thirty-three states plus Washington D.C had more births than deaths during this period—a slight rise over last year but much higher than during pandemic lows when just two dozen states reported positive natural change.
Five states—California, Hawaii, New Mexico, Vermont and West Virginia—lost residents over this timeframe.
Puerto Rico’s population continued its long-term decline with negative natural change as deaths outnumbered births almost two-to-one between July 2024 and June 30th of the following year; it also reversed course on migration trends with more people leaving than arriving after seeing positive net migration previously.
The Census Bureau notes that these latest estimates reflect updated methodologies using additional administrative data sources at local levels as well as adjustments to short-term projections.
Annual revisions mean that past published estimates are replaced each year so comparisons should be made within single vintages only; future data releases—including metropolitan area figures—are scheduled for March under embargo conditions before public release.
