Immigration boosts the population of US cities

New York, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco and Dallas are some of the hundreds of cities that have experienced significant growth between 2023 and 2024, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau figures. This growth is largely due to migrants settling in these cities.

According to the census, the country’s 387 metropolitan areas registered a positive net international migration over that period, which translated into nearly 2.7 million migrants coming from abroad and settling in urban areas. In total, with births factored in, cities gained 3.2 million inhabitants, a hike of 1.1%, amounting to 293.9 million people. This is a slightly higher rise than that of the country as a whole, which was 1%. The population in these cities also grew faster than in 2022-2023 when the increase was 0.9%, again due to migration.

According to census demographer Kristie Wilder, the population rise in cities is increasingly being “influenced by international migration. While births continue to contribute to overall growth, it is increasing international migration that is offsetting the domestic outflows from cities that we see in many areas,” she says.

Census figures also show that between 2022 and 2023, immigration was responsible for total population growth in the U.S., according to data analyzed by the Migration Policy Center. This is the first time this has occurred since the mid-19th century when these inflows began to be recorded; inflows which are key to maintaining a dynamic labor market. However, these hikes come at a time when Donald Trump’s administration is preparing to fulfill its electoral promise of large deportations and this may have a significant impact on urban areas as migrants flee to areas where they might be less easily detained.

The demographic uptick has coincided with a downward trend in the country’s fertility rate, which fell by 2% in 2023 to 1.6%, according to provisional figures. This downward trend started in 2007 and consistently falls below full replacement level.

But as nearly 90% of US cities grew, numbers that fell during the Covid pandemic in areas such as New York, Jersey City or Oakland have been replaced. The country’s most populous county, Los Angeles, however, has not regained the estimated population of just over 10 million of April 2020. As of July 2024, some 9.75 million people lived in Los Angeles county. Meanwhile, the counties of Harris, Maricopa, San Diego and Miami-Dade in Texas, Arizona, California and Florida, respectively, are among those whose population has grown since 2020.

Of course, as the population increases, the rental market also tightens. According to Elliman’s report for February of this year, New York price wars have sent rents spiraling to record highs. The average rent in Manhattan is $4,500, up 6.4% from last year and more than 28% higher than five years ago. Only 2.4% of apartments are vacant. In Queens, the average price is $3,466, up 7% from February 2024, despite a 103% increase in apartment availability.

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