Population Shrinks in 40% of US Counties as Immigration Slows

Four in 10 US counties shrank last year as President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown continued to stifle the nation’s main source of population growth.

Some 1,270 counties lost residents in the year to July 1, 2025, according to Census Bureau figures out Thursday. That’s nearly 20% more than in the same period a year earlier and encompasses just five months of drastic immigration policy changes under Trump.

Some of the steepest numerical declines were in counties that include major cities with large immigrant populations, like Los Angeles, San Diego, Miami, Dallas and New York.

That’s in ...