International Migration Boosts California’s Population Despite Exodus

December 24, 2024 TruthUSA

The recovery of California’s population is primarily fueled by international migration, a key contributor to population growth across the U.S., as indicated by recent data from the Census Bureau.

As of 2024, California’s population surpassed 39.4 million, marking an increase of approximately 0.6 percent compared to 2023, according to new estimates published on December 19 by the U.S. Census Bureau. However, the 2024 population estimate remains roughly 124,000 lower, or 0.3 percent, than the population recorded in April 2020.

Census data reveal that the state continues to experience a decline in residents due to domestic migration, with more Californians relocating to other states compared to those moving into California over recent years.

From July 2023 to July 2024, California experienced a net loss of about 240,000 people due to domestic migration, which was offset by a gain of just over 361,000 through international migration during the same timeframe, resulting in a net contribution of more than 121,000 individuals to California’s population.

Additionally, the balance of new births subtracted by deaths in the state contributed another 110,000 to the population. Consequently, California’s overall population increased by nearly 233,000 from the previous year in 2024, as per the Census Bureau.

Over the last four years, from April 2020 to July 2024, California saw a loss of nearly 1.5 million residents moving to other states. Concurrently, international migration increased California’s population by over 930,000, while natural changes (births minus deaths) added more than 418,000. Despite these contributions, they were insufficient to counterbalance the losses from domestic migration during this period.

Across the country, the U.S. population grew by approximately 1 percent over the past year, exceeding 340 million as of 2024.

“This marks the fastest annual population growth the nation has experienced since 2001—representing a significant rise from the record low growth rate of 0.2% in 2021,” the Census Bureau stated.

International migration was responsible for 84 percent, equating to 2.8 million, of the total 3.3 million increase in population from 2023 to 2024, according to the bureau.

“This indicates a continuing trend of increasing international migration,” the bureau noted.

Positive net international migration was recorded in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, with California (361,057), Florida (411,322), Texas (319,569), and New York (207,161) experiencing the highest gains from international migration between 2023 and 2024.

Among the four most populous states, both California (39,431,263) and New York (19,867,248) are still losing population due to domestic migration, with New York losing over 120,000 net residents between 2023 and 2024 and more than 966,000 since April 2020.

In contrast, Florida (23,372,215) and Texas (31,290,831) have consistently seen positive net domestic migration. Florida had a net domestic migration gain of 64,000 in the past year and over 873,000 since April 2020, while Texas gained more than 85,000 people between 2023 and 2024 and over 748,000 since April 2020.

Source link