US Population Growth Is Showing Signs of a Post-Pandemic Rebound

Population growth is showing early signs of rebounding post-pandemic, with the number of US residents increasing by 0.4% to more than 333 million people this year, according to Census Bureau data released last week.

Net international migration, or the number of people moving in and out of the country, was the primary growth driver this year, with 1,010,923 people moving to the US between 2021 and 2022. That’s 168.8% growth over 2021′s totals of 376,029. And so-called “positive natural change,” or births minus deaths increased the population by 245,080 people.

From a regional perspective, the South was the fastest-growth region and also posted the largest population gains, increasing by 1.1%, or 1,370,163. Positive net domestic migration (867,935) and net international migration (414,740) were the biggest growth drivers in the region, adding a combined 1,282,675 residents.

Census Bureau data also shows that the West was the only other region to experience growth in 2022, with a gain 153,601 residents or a 0.2% increase. That’s despite losing 233,150 residents to other regions. Natural increase (154,405) largely accounted for the growth in the West, according to the Census Bureau.

Meanwhile, the Northeast and the Midwest posted declines of -0.4% and -0.1%, respectively due to negative net domestic migration.

On the state level, Texas nabbed the largest gains to hit a total population of 30,029,572 after gaining 470,708 people since July 2021. It joins California as the only states in the US with more than 30 million people.

And Florida was the fastest-growing state in 2022, with an annual population increase of 1.9%. The Sunshine State’s total population now stands at 22,244,823. It was also the second largest-gaining state behind Texas, with an increase of 416,754 residents, thanks largely to net migration of 444,484 residents.

“While Florida has often been among the largest-gaining states, this was the first time since 1957 that Florida has been the state with the largest percent increase in population,” said Kristie Wilder, a demographer in the Population Division at the Census Bureau.

New York had the largest annual numeric and percent population decline, decreasing by 180,341, or 0.9%, as residents moved to other states. Overall, 18 states experienced a population decline this year, compared to 15 and the District of Columbia the prior year with California and Illinois posting six-figure decreases in resident population.

All 50 states and the District of Columbia saw positive net international migration this year, led by California (125,715), Florida (125,629) and Texas (118,614) while the big winners from net domestic migration were Florida (318,855), Texas (230,961) and North Carolina (99,796). The biggest losses were in California (-343,230), New York (-299,557) and Illinois (-141,656).