Red southern states such as Texas and Florida saw significant population growth this year, while northern liberal states saw their losses offset by an influx of migrants.
The country's population grew by 1.6 million last year, bringing the total to 334.9 million. The growth was mainly driven by southern states, with 87 percent of the increase coming from Texas, Florida and South Carolina alone, according to new sources. Census Bureau Numbers.
Amid the migrant crisis at the border, Texas saw the largest increase nationwide between July 2022 and July 2023, with nearly half a million new residents. The Lone Star State was followed by Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee, which also saw emigration from other states in the country.
“Growth in 2023 can largely be attributed to migration patterns in the region, as net domestic migration added 706,266 people, while net international migration contributed almost 500,000 to the total,” the report said.
Eight states, including New York, California and Illinois, have seen population declines as many have fled liberal cities because of high taxes and the cost of living.
The country's population grew by 1.6 million last year, bringing the total to 334.9 million. Growth was mainly driven by the southern states
In just one year, California lost 338,371 residents to other states, while New York State lost 216,778 and Illinois 83,839.
These losses have been offset by tens of thousands of new migrants moving north after crossing the US-Mexico border into cities like Chicago and NYC. However, the states continued to see their overall population decline due to the mass exodus of former residents to other states.
These states would have suffered much greater population losses if not for the migrants they received, and that has come at a high cost as local governments have been forced to turn public and private spaces into temporary shelters.
However, the report notes that emigration from specific states to other regions peaked during the pandemic and has slowed since last year.
The report said: 'The population of the North East fell by 43,330 in 2023, but the loss was significantly smaller than the fall of 216,576 in 2022 or the fall of 187,054 in 2021, reflecting significantly less emigration to other regions.'
South Carolina's population growth of 1.7 percent exceeded all other states, and its population grew by more than 90,000 residents. More than 90 percent of the growth came from domestic migration, or people moving from another U.S. state to South Carolina.
The Palmetto State is known for its low taxes and cheaper properties compared to other southern states such as Florida.
Florida had the second highest growth rate at 1.6 percent, with more than 365,000 residents. That was also the second highest growth in terms of raw numbers. Only Texas surpassed it, gaining more than 473,000 people.
The nation's population growth was driven primarily by Southern states, with 87 percent of the increase coming from Texas, Florida and South Carolina alone, according to new figures from the Census Bureau.
This year, more people moved to Florida than any other U.S. state, with nearly 373,000 movers, about evenly split between domestic and international. In Florida, significantly fewer residents died than last year, leading to a natural decline of only about 7,600 people.
The number of immigrants to the U.S. rose to the highest level in two decades this year, boosting the country's overall population growth, estimates released Tuesday showed.
It marks the second year in a row that immigration has fueled population growth.
After immigration declined in the second half of the last decade and fell even further due to pandemic-era restrictions, the number of immigrants rose back to nearly 1 million people last year. The trend continued this year as the country added 1.1 million people.
The last time immigration exceeded 1.1 million people was in 2001, according to the Census Bureau.
Without immigration, the U.S. population is expected to decline as deaths will exceed births by the late 2030s.
The census determines how many U.S. congressional seats each state gets. If trends continue in the 2030 census, California could lose four U.S. House seats and New York three. Texas could gain four seats and Florida could add three, according to an analysis by the Brennan Center for Justice.
Although low by historical standards, the half-percent growth rate in 2023 was a slight increase from last year's 0.4 percent and 2021's increase of less than 0.2 percent.