According to recent data published by the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. population reached over 340 million in 2024, boosted by immigration and marking the fastest growth rate in 23 years.
The current growth rate stands at 1%, the highest since 2001, which is a significant rebound from the historical low of 0.2% recorded in 2021 during stringent travel restrictions due to the pandemic.
This year, immigration raised the population by nearly 2.8 million individuals, aided by a revised counting methodology that incorporates people granted entry for humanitarian purposes. Net international migration constituted roughly 84% of the total population surge of 3.3 million between 2023 and 2024.
Meanwhile, the balance between births and deaths saw a positive differential of approximately 519,000, an improvement over the 146,000 difference seen in 2021, although still below the averages seen in prior decades.
Notably, immigration significantly affected individual states, contributing to population growth in 16 states that would have otherwise faced declines due to out-migration or higher mortality rates than birth rates. Demographer William Frey from The Brookings Institution indicated that while the increase may be partly due to an influx of asylees and humanitarian migrants, it highlights immigration as a critical factor in bolstering population numbers in areas that would otherwise experience stagnation or decreases.
Continuing its trend throughout the 2020s, the South emerged as the most rapidly growing region of the United States in 2024, welcoming an impressive 1.8 million new residents, eclipsing growth in all other regions combined. Texas led the way with an increase of 562,941 residents, while Florida followed with an addition of 467,347 new residents. The District of Columbia recorded the highest growth rate nationally at 2.2%.
Three states—Mississippi, Vermont, and West Virginia—saw minor population losses this year, with declines ranging from 127 to 516 individuals. Furthermore, the trend of residents relocating from densely populated coastal urban areas like California and New York to the expanding Sunbelt states, including Florida and Texas, began to temper when compared to the peak movement during pandemic years, noted Frey.
The movement toward the South has caused a significant shift in the nation’s population center, which is now tracking sharply southward after years of gradual southwest movement. Urban planner Alex Zakrewsky remarked that this trend represents a notable demographic change in the settlement patterns of the U.S.
The recent changes in how international migration numbers are computed include individuals arriving under humanitarian parole, a policy that has been operational across different presidential administrations. According to a Washington-based research organization, from 2021 to 2024, over 5.8 million people entered the U.S. through various humanitarian programs.
Estimating the number of new immigrants poses a persistent challenge within the annual population calculations. While the Census Bureau’s revised methodology is unrelated to the political landscape, it comes at a crucial time, coinciding with the anticipated return of Donald Trump as president-elect, who has signaled intentions to pursue mass deportations.
The Census Bureau’s estimates have often been lower than those of other governmental bodies like the Congressional Budget Office. In its recent adjustments, the Bureau estimated that 1.1 million immigrants arrived in the U.S. in 2023, whereas the Congressional Budget Office’s estimate was nearly three times higher at 3.3 million. The revised method has led to an adjustment in the previous year’s immigration figures to approximately 2.3 million, an increase of 1.1 million.
Historically, the Census Bureau’s surveys capturing foreign-born immigration focused on individuals residing in households with stable addresses, causing it to overlook many immigrants arriving under humanitarian conditions, as these individuals often face challenges in establishing permanent homes. Jennifer Van Hook, a demographer at Penn State and active participant in the Bureau’s new methodology, stated that the immigration landscape is evolving significantly, with many seeking asylum and experiencing processing at the U.S.-Mexico border from diverse countries.
The population estimates play a vital role in determining official population numbers in the years between the decennial census, affecting federal funding allocations across the United States, its states, counties, and metropolitan areas.