In 2022, the U.S. population will increase by 1.2 million people

Much of the population growth in 2022 was due to immigration. The figure for new residents entering the U.S. from other countries, minus the number of people leaving, was more than 1 million. That’s 168% more than the previous year, when immigration added 376,029 people.

Through natural population growth – the number of births, minus the number of deaths – the U.S. population increased by 245,080 in 2022. Moreover, 2022 was the first year since 2007 that the country’s birth rate increased.

The annual U.S. population growth rate this year was 0.4 percent, and social scientists consider this a return to normalcy, compared to 2020-2021, when the population growth rate slowed to 0.1 percent and was the lowest in U.S. history because of the pandemic.

Regional statistics for 2022 show that the number of Northeastern U.S. residents decreased by nearly 219,000. This was largely due to residents moving from New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts to other regions of the country. New York City now has 180,000 fewer residents than it did a year ago.

The southern states saw the largest increase in population in 2022, by 1.3 million people. Florida and Texas grew by 400,000. The latter is now home to 30 million people, making Texas the 2nd most populous state in the country. Only California is ahead, with 39 million people.

In 2022, California’s population dropped by 113,000 residents. Meanwhile, 343,000 locals left California in the last year, moving to other states.

There is also a decline in Puerto Rico, with 40,000 residents or 1.3% of the total population leaving. Also, Puerto Rico’s mortality rate exceeds the birth rate, so its population currently stands at 3.2 million.