The new 2025 state population data has just been released by the Census Bureau and our world-class demographer Wendell Cox has analyzed the numbers.

Two of the surprise winners were the Carolinas – North and South.

North Carolina saw the biggest surge with 84,000 and South Carolina was third (behind Texas) with 67,000 net new arrivals.

Notice the Florida boom has slowed, perhaps because housing prices have nearly doubled in five years in the Sunshine State. (Reminds us of the old Yogi Berra line about a restaurant: “no one ever goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.”

One of the most significant turnarounds has been in Ohio, which lost more than 40,000 net domestic migrants from 2020 to 2024, but regained 12,000 last year. Michigan also had a small inflow.

The Midwest as a region registered its first net increase in population from domestic migration we could find, going back to 1991. But just barely. The South is still booming. Nine of the 10 fastest growing states were in the Southeast and Southwest.