"President Donald Trump's crackdown on immigration contributed to a year-to-year drop in the nation's growth rate as the U.S. population reached nearly 342 million people in 2025, according to population estimates released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau. The 0.5% growth rate for 2025 was a sharp drop from 2024's almost 1% growth rate, which was the highest in two decades and was fueled by immigration."
"Immigration increased by almost 1.3 million people last year, compared with 2024's increase of 2.8 million people. If trends continue, the gain from immigrants in mid-2026 will drop to only 321,000 people, according to the Census Bureau, whose estimates do not distinguish between legal and illegal immigration. In the past 125 years, the lowest growth rate was in 2021, during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, when the U.S. population grew by just 0.16%,"
"California had a net population loss of 9,500 people in 2025, a stark change from the previous year, when it gained 232,000 residents, even though roughly the same number of Californians already living in the state moved out in both years. The difference was immigration since the number of net immigrants who moved into the state dropped from 361,000 people in 2024 to 109,000 in 2025."
The U.S. population reached nearly 342 million in 2025, with a growth rate of 0.5%, down from almost 1% in 2024. Immigration gains fell to almost 1.3 million in 2025 from 2.8 million in 2024, and projected immigrant gains could drop to about 321,000 by mid-2026. Births outnumbered deaths by 519,000. The Census Bureau's estimates do not distinguish between legal and illegal immigration. Historical low growth rates occurred in 2021 (0.16% during the coronavirus pandemic) and 1919 (Spanish flu). States such as California and Florida saw population impacts driven by reduced immigration and migration.
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