Recent immigration brought a population rebound to America’s major metro areas, new census data show

Brookings
By William H. Frey
April 10, 2025

Just a few months into office, the Trump administration has put in place a restrictive immigration policy while pursuing aggressive deportations. These anti-immigrant actions come just as new Census Bureau data show that the rise of immigration over the past few years, including both legal and undocumented immigrants, bolstered population growth across the nation and, in particular, large metro areas. The early 2020s hit those areas’ populations particularly hard, in large part due to COVID-19: more deaths, fewer births, domestic out-migration, and reduced immigration from abroad. While most of these components are now turning around, the new census data show that the recent rise in immigration is the main reason big urban area populations are now recovering.  Read more.