Florida and Texas gained a combined 1.7 million people from domestic migration so far this decade, while nearly three million people fled New York and California.
Stephen Moore: Unleash Prosperity Hotline – 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 Woody Allen 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. Goodbye, California
The new Census release also included five-year net domestic migration numbers, confirming the biggest demographic story of recent times: the sad, ongoing collapse of California.
We are witnessing day after day the greatest transfer of wealth and political clout in American history. New York and California are shrinking while Texas and Florida are getting steadily richer.
Florida and Texas gained a combined 1.7 million people from domestic migration so far this decade, while nearly three million people fled New York and California.
New York has its own set of problems, but one of life's great mysteries is how Gavin Newsom has made one of the most beautiful places on the planet so toxic. Amazingly, he's now the front-running Democrat for president in 2028. He’s going to run on his record!
Meanwhile, nine of the 10 states from 2025 with the fastest rise in population were red states.
