The U.S. population grew by nearly 1.0% between 2023 and 2024, according to the new Vintage 2024 population estimates released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.

As the nation’s population surpasses 340 million, this is the fastest annual population growth the nation has seen since 2001, according to a Nov. 19 news release from the Census Bureau. It is a notable increase from the record low growth rate of 0.2% in 2021, the Census Bureau said.

The growth was primarily driven by rising net international migration.

Net international migration, which refers to any change of residence across U.S. borders (the 50 states and the District of Columbia), was the critical demographic component of change driving growth in the resident population. With a net increase of 2.8 million people, it accounted for 84% of the nation’s 3.3 million increase in population between 2023 and 2024.

This reflects a continued trend of rising international migration, with a net increase of 1.7 million in 2022 and 2.3 million in 2023.

"Improved integration of federal data sources on immigration has enhanced our estimates methodology," said Christine Hartley, assistant division chief for Estimates and Projections. in the release. "With this update, we can better understand how the recent increase in international migration is impacting the country's overall population growth."

(More information on the Census Bureau’s updates to how it measures international migration are available in Census Bureau Improves Methodology to Better Capture Increase in Net International Migration).

Natural increase also contributed to the population growth, as births outnumbered deaths by nearly 519,000 between 2023 and 2024. This marks an increase from the historic low in 2021 when natural increase was just over 146,000, but it was still well below the highs in prior decades.

According to the Census Bureau, Maine's population increased from 2023 to 2024 by 5,366, from 1,399,646 to 1,405,012. In 2020, Maine's population was 1,363,196. In a five year span, Maine's population increased by 41,816.

“An annual growth rate of 1.0% is higher than what we’ve seen over recent years but well within historical norms,” said Kristie Wilder, a demographer in the Census Bureau’s Population Division. “What stands out is the diminishing role of natural increase over the last five years, as net international migration has become the primary driver of the nation’s growth.”

Meanwhile, the voting-age resident population (age 18 and over) grew to nearly 267 million, representing 78.5% of the population and the number of U.S. children (ages 0 to 17) declined by 0.2% from 73.3 million in 2023 to 73.1 million in 2024.

The South Remains Fastest-Growing Region

At nearly 132.7 million residents, the South is the most populous region. With a population gain of nearly 1.8 million — a change of 1.4% between 2023 and 2024 — the South added more people than all other regions combined, making it both the fastest-growing and largest-gaining region in the country.

The largest contributing component to this growth was international migration, which added 1.1 million people. Domestic migration netted another 411,004 residents. The South was the only region with positive net domestic migration, where the number of people entering the region exceeded those leaving. Natural increase also contributed 218,567 to the growing region.

Within the South, Texas (562,941) and Florida (467,347) had the largest numeric gains, and the District of Columbia grew the fastest (2.2%) from 2023 to 2024.

The population in the West grew by almost 688,000 (0.9%) to a total of 80,015,776 residents. This growth was consistent with the national trend and continued despite a net domestic migration loss of almost 170,000, offset by a gain of 667,794 from net international migration. There was a gain of 187,986 from natural increase. In the West, California (232,570) and Arizona (109,357) had the largest numeric gains between 2023 and 2024, while Utah (1.8%) and Nevada (1.7%) grew the fastest.

Just over 57.8 million people lived in the Northeast between 2023 and 2024. During that time, the number of residents increased by 0.76% — a gain of almost 435,000.

Growth in the Northeast largely stemmed from net international migration (567,420). The number of people moving from the Northeast to other parts of the country continued to slow as the region lost fewer residents via net domestic outmigration (192,109) in 2024 than in 2023 (278,245).

Within the Northeast, New York (129,881) had the largest numeric gains, and New Jersey (1.3%) had the fastest-growing population.

The population in the Midwest increased by over 410,000 (0.6%) to a total population of 69,596,584 in 2024.

The region had a net domestic migration loss of 49,214, far fewer than the net domestic outmigration of 89,787 in the previous year. The Midwest gained 406,737 people through net international migration and experienced a net gain of 52,741 from natural increase.

Within the region, Illinois (67,899) and Ohio (59,270) had the largest population gains, while North Dakota (1.0%) and Iowa (0.7%) were the fastest-growing states. 

Population increased in most states

Between 2023 and 2024, the population increased in 47 states and the District of Columbia, with nine states (Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Texas and Washington) experiencing population gains of over 100,000 people. The District of Columbia was the fastest growing (2.2%) among state and state equivalents for the first time since 2011.

Texas, the second-most populous state, had the largest numeric increase in the country, adding nearly 563,000 people for a total population of 31,290,831 in 2024.

North Carolina’s population surpassed 11 million (11,046,024) and Florida’s population now exceeds 23 million (23,372,215), as both states experienced growth well above the national average at 1.5% and 2.0%, respectively.

Three states saw their populations decrease slightly between 2023 and 2024: Vermont (-215), Mississippi (-127) and West Virginia (-516), up from two states that lost population between 2022 and 2023.

The losses in Mississippi and Vermont resulted from negative net domestic migration and natural decrease (more deaths than births), and the loss in West Virginia was from natural decrease.

Migration Drives State Growth

Births outnumbered deaths (natural increase) in 33 states and the District of Columbia, with natural increase highest in Texas (158,753), California (110,466) and New York (43,701).

Seventeen states experienced more deaths than births, down from 19 states in 2023 and 25 states in 2022. Pennsylvania (-9,311), West Virginia (-7,844) and Florida (-7,321) were the states with the highest levels of natural decrease.

Texas (85,267), North Carolina (82,288) and South Carolina (68,043) saw the largest gains from domestic migration, while California (-239,575), New York ( -120,917) and Illinois (-56,235) experienced the largest net domestic migration losses between 2023 and 2024.

Net international migration was positive for all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Florida (411,322), California (361,057) and Texas (319,569) saw the largest gains from international migration.

Refer to the bottom of the release for tables on the Top 10 Most Populous States: 2024, Top 10 States by Numeric Growth: 2023 to 2024, and Top 10 States or State Equivalent by Percent Growth: 2023 to 2024.

Population Decline in Puerto Rico Slows

Puerto Rico had a population of 3,203,295 in 2024 — a 0.02% decline over the prior year.

Though Puerto Rico’s population declined, it did so at a much slower pace than in recent years, having experienced drops of 1.3% and 0.5% in 2022 and 2023, respectively.

The U.S. territory did experience positive net migration (15,204), although this gain was offset by natural decrease, as there were far fewer births (18,219) than deaths (33,920). 

Methodology

For the Vintage 2024 population estimates, administrative data were used to adjust the net international migration estimates. Details on this adjustment are available in the Random Samplings blog, Census Bureau Improves Methodology to Better Capture Increase in Net International Migration.

In March, the Census Bureau is scheduled to release estimates of the July 1, 2024, population and demographic components of population change for metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas and counties, and Puerto Rico municipio population estimates. The data will be embargoed. The full release schedule for the Population Estimates Program can be found on the Census Bureau’s website.

With each new release of annual estimates, the entire time series of estimates is revised for all years back to the date of the last census. All previously published estimates (i.e., old vintages) are superseded and archived on the FTP2 site. Due to periodic methodological updates, such as this year’s immigration adjustment, year-to-year comparisons in the estimates should only be done within the same vintage.

To compare U.S. national and state population and demographic components of population change with those of other countries, explore the International Database (IDB). The IDB consists of estimates and projections of demographic indicators, including population size and growth, and components of change like mortality, fertility and net international migration for more than 220 countries and areas. This information, along with interactive maps and subnational data, is available on the International Database: World Population Estimates and Projections page.