LA County Sees Nation's Biggest Population Decline

LOS ANGELES, CA — Los Angeles County saw the largest population decline of any county in the U.S. last year, according to recently published U.S. Census estimates.

The county lost around 54,000 residents between July 2024 and July 2025. Despite the continued trend of a declining population, it's still the largest county in the nation by far with an estimated population of 9,694,934, according to the Census Bureau.

The next largest county, Chicago's Cook County, has about half the total population of LA County.

LA County's population loss equals a 0.55% change over a year. That's the greatest percent population loss of any of the nation's 10 largest counties, according to Census data.

For comparison, four of the nation's top 10 counties saw population gains. Among them was Riverside County in Southern California, which saw a 0.63% increase in population, growing to 2,544,916.

Other large counties that grew are Houston's Harris County, Phoenix's Maricopa County and Chicago's Cook County.

Five of the top 10 counties saw population declines: Dallas County in Texas, San Diego County, New York City's Kings County, Orange County in California, Miami-Dade County and LA County.

“The nation’s largest counties ... are often international migration hubs, gaining large numbers of international migrants and losing people that move to other parts of the country via domestic migration,” explained George M. Hayward, a Census Bureau demographer. "With fewer gains from international migration, these types of counties saw their population growth diminish or even turn into loss.”

At the same time, the nation’s largest counties — including Los Angeles — continued to lose residents to domestic migration, as more people moved to other parts of the country than moved in.

The counties with the largest growth in population were Houston's Harris County; Plano, Texas' Collin County; Phoenix's Maricopa County; Montgomery County outside of Houston; and Wake County, North Carolina's most populous county.

Looking at entire metro areas, which often include multiple counties, the Houston area saw the greatest population growth, adding 126,720 residents for a total population of 7,904,627.

The Dallas-Fort Worth metro area saw a similar number of people move in, bringing the area's population to 8,477,157.

The Atlanta, Phoenix and Charlotte, North Carolina areas rounded out the top 5 metro areas with the largest growth.

The figures are part of the Census Bureau’s annual population estimates program, which tracks demographic changes between the once-a-decade national census.

SEE ALSO:

• 16 Years Of Life Expectancy Separate LA County's Healthiest, Least Healthy Communities: Study
• These Are The Fastest-Growing Communities In CA, Census Data Show
• More People Are Moving Away From CA Than Any Other State: Report
• Californians Are Flocking To This Arizona City: Report
• CA Drops To World's Fifth-Largest Economy