According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s latest estimates, the U.S. resident population grew by 1,256,003 to a total population of 333,287,557. After a historically low growth rate of 0.16% between 2020 and 2021, the U.S. population grew at a rate of 0.38% between 2021 and 2022. The increase in the population growth rate reversed a 6-year trend of declining population growth.
The Census Bureau reports that the primary source for the increase in population growth was net international migration. Total net international migration in 2021 was 376,029, and this number increased by 168.8% to 1,010,923 in 2022. This increase indicates that migration patterns are returning to pre-pandemic levels. A secondary driver of the U.S. population growth rate was positive natural births (births minus deaths) which increased the total population by 245,080.
At the state level, Florida was the fastest growing state for the first time since 1957 with a rate of 1.91%. Idaho’s population continued to grow rapidly, growing at a rate of 1.82%. The third quickest growing state was South Carolina which grew at a rate of 1.72%. Texas had the largest numerical increase in population of 470,708 as it joined California as the second state to have a resident population above 30 million. Behind Texas, Florida had the second largest numerical increase in population of 416,754.
For the second straight year, New York’s population declined at the swiftest rate of all 50 states at 0.91%. This was followed by Illinois (-0.82%), and Louisiana (-0.80%). These three states have had the fastest declines in population over the past two years. New York also had the highest numeric decline of 180,341 followed by California which had a decline of 113,649. Per the Census’ estimates, 18 States experienced a population decline in 2022.
The linked tables here show the population in thousands for each state in 2020, 2021 and 2022 and the growth rate for each respective year.
Related
