The Southern United States is growing population-wise at break-neck speed, while other areas have not experienced such a boom.
Every age group in the southern portion of the country grew faster than any other region over the course of several years, Vintage 2025 estimates showed, per the U.S. Census Bureau’s announcement Thursday:
New data released today for all counties in the United States and Puerto Rico provide a closer look at what age groups were driving the growth of U.S. counties across different stages of life: childhood (0-17), young adulthood and higher education (18-24), early work and family-building years (25-44), midlife (45-64), and retirement (65 and older).
“Regional age patterns are changing for a few key reasons,” said Lauren Bowers, chief of the Census Bureau’s Population Estimates branch. “The continued transition of baby boomers into retirement age, compounded by local migration and fertility patterns, is shifting the demographic makeup of the country. The South stands out because it is seeing population gains in age groups that in other regions saw little change or are declining, reflecting its strong positive migration patterns this decade.”
The boom occurred in the time between April 1, 2020, and July 1, 2025, when “the South grew by 6.0%, nearly double the nation’s 3.1% population growth. It was the only region to see population growth in all five age groups, outpacing the other regions within each age group,” the bureau stated.
In 2022, a report said many black Americans were fleeing Democrat-run New York and California to find better wages and more affordable housing in the South, per Breitbart News.
It is also interesting to note that Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed America’s foreign-born population was on the downward slope as President Donald Trump worked to enforce immigration laws, Breitbart News reported in November:
The preliminary data, analyzed by Center for Immigration Studies Director of Research Steven Camarota, suggests that in September, the 16-year-old and older foreign-born population declined by an additional 101,000.
From January through September, the number of foreign-born residents in the United States aged 16 and older has decreased by 2 million. Camarota suggests that the total foreign-born population, including those younger than 16 years old, has declined by 2.3 million.
The foreign-born population, under former President Joe Biden (D), exploded by 7.4 million from early 2021 until January 2025, the outlet noted.
Census data reported in January showed approximately 7.1 million people picked up and moved to a different state between 2023 and 2024, according to the Hill.
“Receiving the most movers from a different state in 2024 was Florida, which gained about 574,000 new residents. Only one other state, Texas, received more than half a million out-of-state residents, at roughly 556,000,” the article said.
