America is still growing. But not by much.
According to U.S. Census estimates released Jan. 27, population growth slowed “significantly,” with just 1.8 million more people between July 1, 2024, and July 1, 2025.
That amount of population growth — just 0.5 percent — is the slowest growth rate since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, when a worldwide shutdown slowed population growth to just 0.2 percent in 2021. And it comes after a significant increase in 2024, when 3.2 million people were added to the U.S. population, which grew by the most since 2006 percentage points.
The main culprit for slower growth? What a Census Bureau official called “a historic decline in net international migration.”
But the data was also full of alarming continuing trends in birth rates and some surprising regions gaining population. Here’s what you need to know:
What fewer international migrants mean for Americans
Christine Hartley, deputy chief of the division for estimates and projections at the Census Bureau, said in a statement from the agency that migration to the US fell from 2.7 million people to 1.3 million between July 2024 and July 2025.
“With births and deaths remaining relatively stable compared to the previous year, the sharp decline in net international migration is the main reason for the slower growth rate we see today,” Hartley continued.
The slowdown in population growth was evenly distributed across the country, the Census Bureau said, with every state except Montana and West Virginia experiencing slower population growth or accelerated declines.
The Census Bureau said that if trends hold, migration to the United States will fall by another 1 million people, to about 321,000, by July.
Population growth is slowing, the main contributing factor being reduced immigration.
Fewer children, slower growth
There were about 519,000 more births than deaths in the United States between July 2024 and July 2025, about the same as the previous year, the Census Bureau said. That’s a higher rate than during the pandemic, but still “represents a significant decrease from previous decades,” according to the agency. In 2017, for example, there were 1.1 million more births than deaths, and between 2000 and 2010, natural changes accounted for between 1.6 million and 1.9 million.
Research shows that American women are having fewer children, with the percentage of women aged 40 to 44 having a child nearly doubling from 10% in 1980 to 19% in 2022.
Susan Newman, social psychologist and author of “Just One: The New Science, Secrets & Joy of Parenting an Only Child,” told USA TODAY in 2025 that struggles with infertility, the high (and rising) cost of education and cultural changes are some of the reasons people are choosing to be “one and done” by having an only child.
Young adults, who face higher costs for education, health care and housing, are delaying typical milestones such as marriage and family.
America doesn’t have enough children. Could working from home lead to a baby boom?
The Midwest is growing
Only one region of the country, the Midwest, saw each of its states gain population between July 2024 and July 2025. The Midwest’s population has grown steadily every year since 2023, including slight gains in what the Census Bureau calls “natural change” — births minus deaths.
Marc Perry, a senior demographer at the Census Bureau, said for the first time in the 2020s, the Midwest saw positive internal migration — more people moved to the region from other parts of the United States, a “notable turnaround” from population losses in 2021-2022.
The population is growing in the Palmetto State
People are moving to South Carolina from other parts of the United States, the Census Bureau noted: With 66,622 new residents moving in, the population grew by a total of 79,958 people between July 2024 and July 2025, the largest growth rate (1.5%) of any state — though even that was down from a 120,824% increase.
South Carolina’s neighbor North Carolina followed close behind with a 1.3 percent increase. Idaho saw a 1.4 percent increase, with both states’ growth fueled largely by internal migration, the Census Bureau said. Texas’ 1.2 percent growth was driven by both domestic and international movement, even with a sharp drop in international migration. Utah’s 1 percent increase came mostly from natural changes — more births than deaths.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: New US Census data highlights immigration and an alarming trend