International migration was down in every US state last year
Trump touts immigration crackdown, economy & Venezuela
President Donald Trump marked one year of his second term in the White House.
Every state, the District of Columbia, and the majority of the nation’s counties have experienced a decline in net international migration (NIM) amid President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration.
The findings are according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Vintage 2025 population estimates released Thursday.
Every US state experienced decline in international migration
By the numbers:
According to the data, every state and 90% of the nation’s 3,144 counties experienced a decline in net international migration (NIM) between 2024 and 2025. The remaining 10% of counties had no change.
A new US citizen holds a program waiting to take the Oath of Allegiance before receiving their naturalization certificates during a formal ceremony at Midway International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, on June 25, 2025. (Credit: KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP
A decline in net international migration across years does not mean states experienced negative NIM (more "outs" than "ins"). In fact, all states and D.C. experienced positive – but lower – NIM in 2025 than in 2024.
Meanwhile, emigration (or leaving) increased from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, relative to recent years.
Net international migration across states, counties
Dig deeper:
In 2025, Florida was the state with the largest NIM total, with 178,674 more people coming from abroad than leaving, and West Virginia had the smallest total (244).
Harris, Texas, Miami, and Los Angeles were the counties with the largest 2025 NIM estimates.
The five states (Florida, Texas, California, New York and New Jersey) with the highest NIM totals in 2025 accounted for about half (47.9%) of all U.S. net international migration.
In addition, the 10 counties with the largest NIM estimates in 2025 made up about a quarter (24.5%) of the nation’s total. These counties were among the 50 most populous, each with a population of over one million in 2025.
Overall, fewer dots show up in 2025 than in 2024, illustrating the historic NIM decline across the United States. This was especially notable in large states like California and Texas and in the Northeast region.
The smallest drop was in Vermont, where the NIM estimate declined from 1,249 in 2024 to 623 in 2025. California had the largest drop, from 312,761 to 109,278.
What Is Net International Migration (NIM)?
Big picture view:
NIM is the annual estimate of in-flows to the United States from abroad minus the out-flows. Positive NIM means more people came into an area via immigration than left via emigration — and negative NIM means more people emigrated than immigrated.
The Census Bureau produces annual NIM, birth, death and domestic migration estimates to develop national, state and county population estimates by characteristics.
Why the change?
While the census data does not directly link changes in population to the Trump administration’s policies, the reduction in net international migration follows the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign and crackdown on immigration policies.
According to State Department data, legal immigration to the U.S. also fell from most countries during the first eight months of 2025.
Julia Gelatt, associate director of the U.S. immigration policy program at the Migration Policy Institute, told The Washington Post that the latest census data reflects changes that began toward the end of the Biden administration to restrict immigration and have accelerated dramatically under Trump.
The Source: The information for this story was provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. The Census Bureau said it implemented several changes that improved the accuracy of net international migration estimates at the state and county levels, better reflecting recent changes in migration flows. This story was reported from Los Angeles.