Red Southern states like Texas and Florida saw significant population booms this year, while losses in northern liberal states were offset by an influx of migrants.
The country's population grew by 1.6 million last year, bringing the country's total population to 334.9 million. The growth was largely driven by Southern states, with 87 percent of the increase coming just from Texas, Florida and South Carolina, according to new Census Bureau figures.
Amid the migrant crisis at the border, Texas saw the nation's largest increase with nearly half a million new residents between July 2022 and July 2023. The Lone Star State was followed by Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee, which also saw migration from other states in the country.
“The growth in 2023 is largely due to the region's migration patterns, as 706,266 people were added via net domestic migration, while net international migration contributed nearly 500,000 to the total,” the report explained.
Meanwhile, eight states, including New York, California and Illinois, have seen population declines as many 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 country's total population to 334.9 million. The 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 lost 83,839 residents.
These losses were offset by tens of thousands of new migrants heading north to cities like Chicago and NYC after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. However, states still experienced a decline in their overall population due to massive exodus of former residents to other states.
These states would have experienced much greater population losses had they not welcomed the migrants, which would come at great cost as local governments would be forced to convert public and private spaces into emergency shelters.
However, the report notes that migration 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 less than the decline of 216,576 in 2022 or the decline of 187,054 in 2021, reflecting substantially less out-migration to others regions.”
With a population growth of 1.7 percent, South Carolina outperformed all other states and the population grew by more than 90,000 residents. More than 90 percent of the growth came from domestic migration, or people moving to South Carolina from another U.S. state.
Florida had the second-highest growth rate at 1.6%, adding more than 365,000 residents. This was also the second highest growth in terms of pure numbers. Only Texas surpassed it, adding more than 473,000 people.
The country's population growth was driven primarily by the southern states, with 87 percent of residents coming from Texas, Florida and South Carolina alone, according to new Census Bureau figures
This year, more people moved to Florida than to any other US state, with the nearly 373,000 immigrants split roughly evenly between domestic and international immigrants. Compared to the previous year, significantly fewer residents died in Florida, resulting in a natural decline of only around 7,600 people.
The number of immigrants to the U.S. rose to its highest level in two decades this year, driving the country's overall population growth, estimates released Tuesday show.
It is the second year in a row that the population has increased through immigration.
After declining in the second half of the last decade and falling even further due to pandemic-era restrictions, the number of immigrants rebounded last year to nearly 1 million people. The trend continued this year as the country added 1.1 million people.
According to the Census Bureau, the last time the immigration rate exceeded 1.1 million people was in 2001.
It's a sign of the future. Without immigration, the U.S. population is expected to decline as deaths are expected to exceed births by the late 2030s.
The census determines how many seats in the U.S. Congress each state receives. If the trend continues through 2030, California could lose four seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and New York three. Texas could gain four seats and Florida three, according to an analysis by the Brennan Center for Justice.
The half percent growth rate in 2023, while low by historical standards, represented a slight increase from last year's 0.4 percent rate and the less than 0.2 percent increase in 2021.