America’s cities are growing again, and Florida remains a hot spot for movers

After national lockdowns were imposed in 2020, many people living in metro areas decided to up sticks to wider, sunnier spaces, spurred by cramped living conditions, rising housing costs, and a newfound ability to work remotely. 

But now, American cities are seeing a rapid uptick in residents. New data from the Census Bureau, released Thursday, found that population growth in metro areas from 2023 to 2024 was faster than America as a whole, increasing by 1.1%. That may not sound like a lot, but it’s about 3.2 million more people living in a metro area over the course of a year. In fact, metro areas accounted for 96% of the nation’s population growth overall for this period, with populations increasing in almost 90% of all US metro areas from 2023 to 2024.

Metro booming

Indeed, cities that saw the biggest population losses during the pandemic, like New York, recorded gains last year… though a few, including San Francisco, are still down relative to 2020. 

While a few domestic movers may have been drawn back to cities by better job opportunities and return-to-office orders, by far the main driver for this shift, per the bureau, was immigration. All of the nation’s 387 metro areas had positive net international migration, which accounted for approximately 2.7 million people additional to metro areas — up from 2.2 million from 2022-23 — compared with the 0.6 million gain from natural growth (excess of births over deaths).

Hello, Sunshine... One enduring migration trend from Covid is that big population gains are still being seen in the Sunbelt. According to the bureau, 9 out of the 10 fastest-growing metro areas between 2023-24 were in the South, with the top two being located in Florida.