US net immigration fell from 2.7 million to 1.3 million from July 2024 to June 2025, census data shows

National Guard members at the US-Mexico border in El Paso on January 21, 2025, the day after US President Donald Trump's inauguration. Photo / Anna Watts, for The Washington Post

The United States population grew last year at its slowest rate since early in the coronavirus pandemic as net immigration fell by about half, according to census data released today.

The population grew by 1.8 million, or 0.5% between July 2024 and June 2025, the census found.

Net immigration - calculated by subtracting the number of people who left the US from the number who entered the country - dropped from 2.7 million to 1.3 million in that period.

The census researchers project that net immigration will drop to about 321,000 by July if current trends continue.

Every state except two - Montana and West Virginia - saw either slower population growth or faster population decline last year, the data show.

The census data captures the end of President Joe Biden’s administration, when he implemented tighter restrictions on immigration, and the early months of US President Donald Trump’s second term, when he began an aggressive effort to deport undocumented immigrants.

Trump has used executive orders, troop deployments to the US-Mexico border and policy changes to pursue an immigration crackdown, which has increasingly targeted migrants without criminal records.

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