South leads population growth in US

CORRECTION: West Virginia and Louisiana both saw population losses last year. A previous version of this story included incorrect information.

The South led the country in population growth in the last year, new estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau found.

The South is already the nation’s most populated region but accounted for 87 percent of the overall growth from July 2022 to July 2023. It was the only region to maintain population growth throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the report found.

In the last year, the region added more than 1.4 million residents, a 1.1 percent increase, for a total population of more than 130 million people. The growth can be attributed to migration patterns, the report said.

About 700,000 people came to the South through domestic migration, moving from one region to another. More than 500,000 people moved to the South through international migration.

The only states in the region that saw losses over the last year were Louisiana and West Virginia. Texas, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina all saw population increases of 1 percent or more, the report found.

The Midwest saw a moderate gain, a 0.2 percent increase, in population last year after two consecutive years of decline. In previous years, the Midwest saw population loss in Illinois and other areas due to higher migration to other regions, which steadied this year.

The West also expanded, mostly due to higher international migration and fewer deaths than previous years. Alaska and New Mexico gained population after previous losses. California, Oregon and Hawaii all saw population loss over the last year but at “a more modest pace” than before.

The Northeast was the only region that experienced a decline in population in 2023, but this decline was still considerably smaller than in years prior, the report found.

Nationally, the United States’s population increased last year as a result of fewer deaths and immigration returning to pre-pandemic levels.