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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's population growth from 2021 to 2022 landed the state in the top 10 among all 50 states when taking into account total people and percentage increase, according to new estimates released Thursday.
The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that Utah gained 41,687 new residents between July 1, 2021, and July 1 of this year, pushing the state's population up to a tick over 3.38 million people. The numeric growth placed Utah ninth in the country, and third among Western states.
Utah's estimated 1.2% growth over the past year puts it 10th in the country for percentage growth, which is a drop in rankings from previous Census reports. The Beehive State led all states in percentage growth between the 2010 and 2020 censuses and tied for second behind Idaho in the bureau's 2021 population estimates.
The Census Bureau's estimates are a bit different from the University of Utah Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute's estimates unveiled earlier this month. The local institute reported Utah's population grew by 61,242 people from July 1, 2021, to July 1, 2022 — nearly 20,000 more than the Census Bureau's figures, helping the state surpass 3.4 million people.
University demographers called it the state's largest growth since 2006, while net migration levels were the highest over the past year since the end of World War II in the 1940s.
The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program uses birth, death and migration data to calculate its figures; the Gardner Policy Institute numbers, however, are based on similar datasets but feature more localized housing information, which is why they are confident of their estimates' accuracy.
Had the bureau's numbers perfectly aligned with those from the institute, Utah's growth would have placed eighth in numeric growth. Its percentage increase would have tied with Idaho for second in the country at 1.8%.
'Early indication' of post-pandemic trends
Experts have wondered what impact the COVID-19 pandemic would have on population trends. The newly released data may show an "early indication" of what those are, Census Bureau officials say.
The U.S. population grew by nearly 1.3 million, or 0.4%, from July 1, 2021, to July 1 this year. The country's population now sits at about 333.2 million.
Net international migration is listed as a "primary driver of growth," as the U.S. added a little more than 1 million people who moved to the U.S. compared to moving away from it, according to the Census Bureau. That's nearly a 169% increase from the agency's 2021 report. The bureau didn't list which countries people are coming to the U.S. from.
The U.S. also had its first year-over-year increase in total births in 15 years, which helped pad the numbers, according to Census Bureau demographer Kristie Wilder.
"There was a sizeable uptick in population growth last year compared to the prior year's historically low increase," she said in a statement Thursday."A rebound in net international migration, coupled with the first year-over-year increase in total births since 2007, is behind this increase."
[Source: U.S. Census Bureau]
These figures aren't the only possible emerging post-pandemic trends. The South and West are the main regions to benefit from the increase, which has been the case for some time; however, that trend notched up to another level in the past year.
A new growth leader?
Texas and Florida stand out the most in the latest Census Bureau report. The addition of 470,708 people in Texas topped single-state growth across the U.S., just ahead of Florida with its 416,754 new people. Both states grew double any other state from the previous estimate.
Florida's estimated 1.9% population increase topped the nation, just ahead of Idaho, which had 1.8%. Texas' growth of 1.6% landed fourth among the 50 states and Puerto Rico.
Overall, the South grew by an estimated 1.37 million people, spurred largely by a mixture of net domestic and international migration. Its growth skyrocketed past any other region, as the top four states in numeric growth all are in the South. North Carolina and Georgia placed third and fourth behind Texas and Florida in that category.
The West added an estimated 153,601 people, led by Arizona's projected population increase of 94,320. The Grand Canyon State placed fifth in numeric growth. Washington (45,041) and Idaho (34,719) placed in the top 10, along with Utah, among Western states.
[Source: U.S. Census Bureau]
The Northeast and Midwest experienced population declines. In fact, no state had it worse than New York, which lost an estimated 180,341 people over the past year. Only South Dakota (1.5% increase) and Delaware (1.4% increase) had population growths that landed within the top 10 among these two regions.
Speaking of declines, California's drop of 113,649 people placed second worst behind New York. That said, California and New York still remain first and fourth in total population, respectively, with Texas and Florida sandwiched in between. California's estimated population of 39.5 million holds a nearly 9 million-person lead over any other state in the country.
It's unclear if these declines are related to people moving out of densely populated major cities, which was one of the major theories during the COVID-19 pandemic. Census Bureau officials said Thursday that they plan to release more detailed 2022 population estimates sometime next year, which will narrow these population changes down to show changes within counties, municipalities, as well as metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas.
Additional data will show population estimates in regard to age, sex, race and ethnicity.
