International migration motored Utah's growth from 2023 to 2024

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

Utah's population growth from 3.44 to 3.5 million from 2023 to 2024 stemmed largely from international migration.
In Salt Lake County, international migration more than offset domestic outmigration, motoring growth in the one-year period.
Nationally, international migration accounted for 84% of the overall estimated U.S. population increase.

SALT LAKE CITY — International migration, which most notably includes immigration from abroad, was a key factor in Utah's estimated population growth between 2023 and 2024, according to new U.S. Census Bureau estimates.

It was especially pronounced in Salt Lake County, where growth in the category more than offset departures from the county to other locations within Utah and the rest of the United States.

Statewide, according to the new figures, Utah's population increased from 3.44 million to 3.5 million in the one-year span, and international migration accounted for 33,133 of the 60,391 net increase, 54.9% of the total. Within Salt Lake County, the total population went up by 15,730 to 1.22 million, with international migration surging by 18,992, offsetting domestic outmigration of more than 10,000 others from the county and motoring the uptick.

The trend in Salt Lake County, Utah's most populous and urbanized county, fits with what's happening in the nation's largest cities. Release of the numbers, moreover, comes amid heated debate about the presence of immigrants here illegally and increased efforts to detain and deport them.

"Increasingly, population growth in metro areas is being shaped by international migration," Kristie Wilder, a Census Bureau demographer, said in a statement accompanying the March 13 data release. "While births continue to contribute to overall growth, rising net international migration is offsetting the ongoing net domestic outmigration we see in many of these areas."

Nationally, in fact, international migration accounted for 84% of the overall estimated U.S. population increase between 2023 and 2024, according to figures released by the Census Bureau last December. The estimated U.S. population went from 336.81 million to 340.11 million, with international migration accounting for 2.8 million of the 3.3 million net jump.

International migration is a broad category that factors foreign-born people coming to the United States, Americans moving to and from the United States, migration between the United States and Puerto Rico and movement of U.S. armed forces to and from other countries.

The overall estimated U.S. population increase from 2023 to 2024, though, was driven "almost entirely" by foreign-born immigration, according to the Census Bureau, the "largest component" of the net international migration category. The Census Bureau figures don't divvy the foreign-born immigration category into those here legally and illegally.

The other key category of population growth is natural change, which is births minus deaths. Domestic migration, movement of people to or from other locations within Utah and the rest of the United States, is another smaller category.

Here are some takeaways from the new Census Bureau estimates for Utah:

Utah's overall population increase between 2023 and 2024 from 3.44 million to 3.5 million was motored most notably by the uptick of 33,133 in international migration and natural change of 23,986. The 54.9% increase due to international migration compares to the 33.3% hike in Utah's population in the category between 2020 and 2024.
In Salt Lake County, international migration accounted for growth of 18,992 while domestic outmigration resulted in the loss of 10,002 people. Natural change totaled 6,795, bringing the population to 1.22 million. Without international newcomers, Salt Lake County's population likely would have declined.
In Utah County, Utah's second-most populous county, the population surged from 725,359 to 747,234 — with 8,724 of the hike due to natural change, 8,054 due to international migration and 5,031 due to domestic migration. Utah County was Utah's fastest-growing and the 30th-fastest growing county in the country.
In Davis County, Utah's third-most populous county, the population went from 374,430 to 378,470 — with 2,434 due to natural change and 1,694 due to international migration. The increases were offset by domestic outmigration of 112.

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.