Americans continue to flock to parts of the South and Mountain West while a handful of states, including California, are seeing their population shrink, according to a new analysis of Census Bureau data by SmartAsset. Between July 2024 and July 2025, the period analyzed by the financial information platform, Vermont saw the largest population decline in the nation, at -0.3 percent, followed by Hawaii at -0.2 percent. Three other states experienced relatively small declines, with West Virginia seeing its population fall by 0.07 percent, New Mexico by 0.06 percent, and California by 0.02 percent.
On the other hand, the Carolinas (which have been a domestic migration success story for years now) recorded the fastest growth in population in the nation, with South Carolina leading with a year-over-year increase of 1.46 percent. It was followed by Idaho at 1.44 percent, North Carolina at 1.32 percent, and Texas at 1.25 percent. The nation’s biggest population gainers between July 1, 2024 and July 1, 2025 were concentrated in the South and the Mountain West, with some notable exceptions.
These were: Beside the five states that actually experienced population declines within this same period, the smallest gains in the nation were reported by: Many of the states with negative or small population growth also have the highest cost of living, according to a recent analysis by the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center (MERIC), which scored each state from 0 to 100 based on costs ranging from groceries, housing, utilities, transportation, and health. Hawaii, which reported the second-biggest decline in population between 2024 and 2025, topped MERIC’s top ten most expensive states in the country with an overall score of 184.8, which meant that the cost of living in the state was nearly 85 percent higher than the national average between January and March 2026, led by the extremely high cost of housing. Three other states which saw negative or small population growth according to SmartAsset’s analysis were also in the top ten states with the highest cost of living, including California (#3), Alaska (#5), and New York (#6).
This suggests that the cost of living, as well as each state's job markets’ and the opportunities they offer, might be driving Americans in their decision to relocate across state lines. Newsweek contacted SmartAsset for comment by email on Tuesday morning. As the U.S. overall population growth slows down (below 1 percent between July 1, 2024 and July 1, 2025) and Americans get older, some states are feeling these changes more acutely than others.
New England is graying much faster than the rest of the country, while the South is managing to keep relatively younger. Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont have the nation’s oldest populations, according to SmartAsset’s research. The Pine Tree State has the country’s highest median age at 45 as well as the largest share of residents 65 and older, as it remains a retirement hotspot thanks to its idyllic natural landscape.
At the same time as older people move in, many young people leave rural Maine after finishing school to find better-paying jobs in bigger cities such as Boston or New York, exacerbating the state’s rapid aging. New Hampshire and Vermont followed closely, each with a median age of 44 and large shares of residents 65 and older, at 23 percent and 24 percent respectively. Like Maine, these two states are experiencing an influx of Americans seeking to retire in their quiet, rural towns while young residents are moving across state lines for better job opportunities and livelier lifestyles, leaving New Hampshire and Vermont with fewer younger families and fewer births every year.
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