The U.S. Census Bureau announced on Mar. 26 that population growth slowed in the majority of the nation’s 3,143 counties and the District of Columbia between July 1, 2024, and July 1, 2025, according to its Vintage 2025 population estimates.
This slowdown is significant because it affects both large metropolitan areas and smaller communities across the country. Changes in migration patterns and natural increase have shaped these new trends.
Of the counties that grew between 2023 and 2024, nearly eight out of ten saw their growth slow or even reverse direction by mid-2025. Many counties already experiencing decline saw those losses accelerate during this period. Among metropolitan statistical areas, more than three-quarters experienced slower growth compared to the previous year. The steepest declines were seen along the U.S.-Mexico border: Laredo, Texas; Yuma, Arizona; and El Centro, California.
Lower levels of net international migration (NIM) contributed largely to these shifts nationwide. Nine out of ten U.S. counties had reduced NIM from July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025 compared with a year earlier; none saw an increase in international migration during this time frame.
Some of the largest counties were most affected by declining NIM—these are typically areas with more births than deaths but also high numbers moving away domestically. George M. Hayward, a Census Bureau demographer said: “The nation’s largest counties like those in the New York metro area are often international migration hubs, gaining large numbers of international migrants and losing people that move to other parts of the country via domestic migration,” adding “With fewer gains from international migration, these types of counties saw their population growth diminish or even turn into loss.”
Geographically, many fast-growing counties were found along the Southeast coast—including Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia—with outer-edge suburban areas especially growing quickly around major Texas cities.
Metro areas overall grew faster (0.6%) than micro areas (0.2%) or rural territory outside metro/micro zones (0.1%), though all segments grew at about half their pace from a year earlier due mainly to lower NIM levels.
The number of U.S. counties experiencing natural decrease—more deaths than births—remained steady at about two-thirds for a third consecutive year but was still lower than immediately after pandemic years when roughly three-quarters reported such decreases.
According to today’s release from census.gov/popest tables are available on county size changes as well as breakdowns by metro/micro status for further detail on local trends.
