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- Utah is among the top five fastest-growing states, with a 1.8% increase, new Census figures show.
- The U.S. population grew by 2.8 million, marking the largest spike since 2001.
- Net international migration is now the primary driver of U.S. population growth.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah is once again one of the five fastest-growing states in the country this year, while the U.S. experienced its largest population spike in two decades, according to new federal data.
Utah is believed to have gained a little more than 60,000 new residents between July 1, 2023, and July 1 of this year, surpassing 3.5 million residents along the way, the Census Bureau reported on Thursday. It represents a growth of 1.8%, tying Texas for third among all U.S. states, districts and territories.
"We're really fortunate to live in a state where people want to live here ... because we have the best economy in the nation," said Gov. Spencer Cox, touting the state's ranking.
Meanwhile, the U.S. population grew by 3.3 million people from mid-2023 to mid-2024. Its 1% growth is the country's biggest leap since 2001, surpassing 340 million this year as a result of two key forces.
How Utah grew in 2024
The Census Bureau's annual population estimates don't explain exactly why growth occurs, why certain states grow faster than others, or why some states decline. The agency instead publishes data from a wealth of sources to estimate natural increase — number of births over deaths — and migration patterns.
Net migration — primarily from other states — has been a large driver for Utah in recent years. It's one reason why it led the nation in percentage growth between the 2010 and 2020 censuses. However, the Beehive State's percentage growth ranking has tumbled a bit in recent years. It fell to ninth in the Census Bureau's 2023 estimates after a projected 1.1% growth between 2022 and 2023.
Overall trends remained about the same in 2024, as net migration accounted for about 60% of the state's year-to-year growth. Yet, International migration accounted for a little over 90% of that migration, according to the Census Bureau data.
Christine Hartley, assistant division chief for estimates and projections for the Census Bureau, said the bureau made some changes to improve data collected from agencies that closely track immigration since last year's population estimates.
"With this update, we can better understand how the recent increase in international migration is impacting the country's overall population growth," she said in a statement.
The state gained nearly another 24,000 residents from the ratio of in-state births to deaths. The migration to natural increase ratio could also explain why the percentage of Utahns 18 or over increased from 72.7% in 2023 to 73.4% in 2024, too.
Utah jumped back into the top five this year after analyzing everything, matching Texas's 1.8% growth. Only the District of Columbia (2.2%) and Florida (2%) had larger spikes among U.S. locations, while South Carolina (1.7%) rounded out the top five. Nevada (1.7%), Idaho (1.5%) and Arizona (1.5%) all landed in the top 10 among western states.
Utah failed to reach the top 10 in numeric growth after dabbling in that in past years. Texas led the nation by adding over 500,000 new residents, followed by Florida (467,347), California (232,570), North Carolina (164,835) and New York (129,881). Arizona and Washington each added over 100,000 residents, as Western states also placed in the top 10 in numeric growth.
Only Mississippi, Puerto Rico, Vermont and West Virginia had reported population losses over the past year.
More detailed estimates, including changes to metropolitan areas, counties and cities/towns and population demographics all across the country, are scheduled to be released next year.
Preparing for change
Cox said he sees pros and cons with Utah's growth. When asked about the state's placing during his monthly briefing with Utah reporters on Thursday, the governor said he understands the challenges it brings, especially on housing, water, transportation and other key infrastructure.
However, he explained it's why the state continues to respond to the reality of a growing population.
"This does present a challenge, but I would always encourage us to avoid those false choices that we can't grow ... and preserve a high quality of life," he said. "We can do both of those things."
That data doesn't specify the countries of origin or legal status of the travel. Cox spent a large chunk of Thursday's press briefing talking about immigration and crime, another key population-related topic that rekindled recently as President-elect Donald Trump and his administration prepare to assume office. Cox said last month that he plans to assist the new administration in efforts to deport undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes.
Mirroring a trend
Utah's growth trends were very similar to what happened across the country.
Net migration accounted for the vast majority of the nation's growth in 2024, while the country's population grew by 519,000 over the past year just from natural increase. The latter is a major step from COVID-19 pandemic times, more than triple the natural increase reported in 2021 — the lowest on record.
Census Bureau experts say they aren't surprised by the 1% growth even though it stands out from other population estimates in recent years, but they say this year's data may go to show how the U.S. growth is rapidly changing.
"What stands out is the diminishing role of natural increase over the last five years, as net international migration has become the primary driver of the nation's growth," said Kristie Wilder, a demographer in the Census Bureau's population division.
Contributing: Brigham Tomco, Deseret News
