Population growth in the United States slowed significantly between July 1, 2024, and July 1, 2025, with an increase of only 1.8 million people, or 0.5%, according to new Vintage 2025 population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. This marks the slowest growth since the early period of the COVID-19 pandemic, when growth was just 0.2% in 2021.
The primary reason for this slowdown is a historic decline in net international migration. 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 every state except Montana and West Virginia experienced either slower growth or faster decline during this period.
The Midwest was unique as all its states gained population between July 2024 and July 2025. The region saw steady gains over recent years after previous declines; natural change contributed to this trend.
Marc Perry, senior demographer at the Census Bureau, noted: “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 exemplified this shift with positive net domestic migration numbers after experiencing significant losses earlier in the decade.
South Carolina led states by percentage increase (1.5%), driven by strong net domestic migration gains but down slightly from its previous year’s rate. Idaho (1.4%) and North Carolina (1.3%) also saw robust increases fueled by similar trends. Texas grew by both natural change and international migration despite slowing gains from abroad; Utah’s growth came mainly from natural change as its international migration slowed.
Between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025:
– The U.S. population reached approximately 341.8 million.
– Net international migration fell sharply to about 1.3 million, down more than half from last year.
– Natural change remained near 519,000, higher than pandemic lows but much lower than previous decades.
– All four regions posted slower rates of population increase compared to recent years.
– The South’s growth dropped below one percent for the first time since before COVID-19.
– The Northeast had its largest drop-off among regions.
Only five states—California, Hawaii, New Mexico, Vermont and West Virginia—lost population during this period.
More states reported positive natural change (births exceeding deaths) than during pandemic years but fewer than seen historically.
Net international migration decreased across all states but remained positive overall; Florida led numerically with over 178,000 arrivals followed by Texas (167,475), California (109,278), and New York (95,634). Domestic movement within states shifted as well; Alabama surpassed Florida in net domestic arrivals for this cycle.
Puerto Rico continued its long-term population loss trend with a decrease of nearly 17,700 residents. Deaths on the island were almost double births—a pattern ongoing since before COVID—and it also experienced negative net migration after seeing gains last year.
Recent changes to how these estimates are calculated include updated administrative data sources at subnational levels and adjustments to short-term projections methods used by analysts at the Census Bureau.
These annual estimates are revised each release cycle based on new data inputs; comparisons should be made only within matching vintages due to periodic methodological updates.
