South Carolina Rises as the Fastest-Growing State
South Carolina is currently the fastest-growing state in the U.S., even while cities led by Democrats on both coasts are seeing a significant outflow of residents.
From July 2024 to July 2025, an impressive 66,622 more people moved to South Carolina than left it, resulting in a 1.5% population growth, surpassing all other states, as reported by FOX News.
Federal statistics back this up. The US Census Bureau noted that nationwide population growth only reached 0.5% during the same period, marking the slowest annual increase since the pandemic began. Meanwhile, states like California, Hawaii, New Mexico, Vermont, and West Virginia saw a decrease in their populations. Following South Carolina, Idaho and North Carolina had growth rates of 1.4% and 1.3%, respectively.
In stark contrast, New York City lost around 114,000 residents to other areas last year, according to a Citizens Budget Committee study mentioned by Fox News. Interestingly, international arrivals nosedived by 70%, erasing the demographic buffer that had previously masked domestic departures.
Los Angeles County bore the brunt of this trend, losing 53,421 residents between mid-2024 and mid-2025, according to the Census Bureau. The county’s population has dropped from nearly 10 million in 2020 to about 9.7 million now. Despite a boom in artificial intelligence jobs, San Francisco’s population remains below pre-pandemic levels, as noted by Fox News.
Governor Kathy Hochul of New York, a Democrat, acknowledged this exodus and has publicly urged affluent residents to return, warning that the loss of tax revenue poses a threat to the state’s social safety net.
Hochul expressed to Fox News her worries about “Wall Street companies looking at Texas,” admitting that New York is “competing with other states that have lower tax burdens.”
Tax data provides insight into where these displaced residents are relocating. A study from the National Taxpayers Association Foundation revealed that Texas adds a new taxpayer every 4 minutes and 40 seconds and is projected to surpass Florida in 2022. Florida continues to excel in income mobility, attracting approximately $36.1 billion in net annual income, as reported by the Florida Chamber of Commerce.
According to the Census Bureau, the fastest-growing counties in America are now primarily found in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina.
