Fueled by a sizeable net domestic migration increase of 66,622, South Carolina’s population grew by 79,958 between July 1, 2024, and July 1, 2025, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The increase of 1.5 percent was the highest of any state and was down somewhat from its 1.8 percent increase in 2024.
Idaho (1.4 percent) and North Carolina (1.3 percent) followed closely, with their growth also driven by domestic migration gains.
Texas (1.2 percent) grew rapidly from a combination of natural change and net international migration, despite a sharp slowdown in gains from the latter.
Utah (1.0 percent) grew mainly from natural change, as net international migration — the largest contributor to its growth last year — slowed.
Population growth in the United States has slowed significantly with an increase of only 1.8 million, or 0.5 percent, between July 1, 2024, and July 1, 2025, according to the new Vintage 2025 population estimates released Jan. 27, 2026, by the Census Bureau.
Census officials said this was the nation’s slowest population growth since the early period of the Covid-19 pandemic, when the population grew by a historically low 0.2 percent in 2021.
The slowdown also comes after a sizeable uptick of growth in 2024, when the country added 3.2 million people and grew by 1.0 percent, the fastest annual population growth rate since 2006.
“The slowdown in U.S. population growth is largely due to a historic decline in net international migration, which dropped from 2.7 million to 1.3 million in the period from July 2024 through June 2025,” said Christine Hartley, assistant division chief for Estimates and Projections at the Census Bureau. “With births and deaths remaining relatively stable compared to the prior year, the sharp decline in net international migration is the main reason for the slower growth rate we see today.”
Slower population growth was felt across the country. All four census regions and every state except Montana and West Virginia saw their growth slow, or their decline accelerate.
The South saw population growth drop below 1.0 percent for the first time since 2021, from 1.4 percent growth between 2023 and 2024 to 0.9 percent growth between July 2024 and July 2025.
The Northeast saw the largest decline in growth, from 0.8 percent growth between 2023 and 2024 to 0.2 percent between July 2024 to July 2025.
States that experienced population decline were California, Hawaii, New Mexico, Vermont and West Virginia.
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