Miami, LA, and other big cities are shrinking

Nick Iluzada

It feels less crowded here, no? Population growth across the US slowed to one of the lowest rates in history, with the country adding just 1.8 million people between July 2024 and July 2025, according to new data released by the US Census Bureau yesterday. The slowdown was largely driven by the rapid fall of international migration due to President Trump’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants and other federal policy changes. Large metro areas and counties along the US–Mexico border were hit the hardest. Growth slowed—or reversed—throughout the US Of the 2,066 counties that saw population growth between 2023 and 2024, 8 in 10 now face slower growth or even population decline. And of the counties that were already looking at a waning population, well, it likely got worse. A total of 1,270 counties lost residents in the year leading up to July 2025, including those with major cities that historically attract large immigrant populations like Miami, Los Angeles, San Diego, Dallas, and New York: Miami-Dade County had a dramatic flip, going from the second-largest population increase in 2024 to a population drop of about 10,000 people last year. California’s population also fell about 0.02% last year. Some state counties, like Sacramento and Fresno, eked out small increases. The Southeast is the place to be. More than 80% of the counties in Tennessee, South Carolina, and Kentucky saw increases in net domestic migration, aka people from other parts of the US moving in. Meanwhile, Georgia accounted for three of the top 10 counties with the highest positive net migration. Texas was a weird one. While people are leaving Dallas and other major Lone Star cities that boomed during the pandemic, the state’s suburbs are exploding. Four of the top 10 fastest-growing counties between 2024 and 2025 were in Texas: Waller, Kaufman, Liberty, and Caldwell. Guess all your exes really do live in Texas.