These FL Counties Gaining Most Population, New Census Report Shows

FLORIDA — More Florida counties than not grew in 2023, according to new Census Bureau population estimates.

The Vintage 2023 report released March 14 showed more U.S. counties saw population growth than decline, with the fastest growth occurring in the South and population losses mostly concentrated in the Northeast and Midwest, regions that saw their populations plunge with the pandemic.

In Florida, 63 of 67 counties grew, according to the estimates. That compares to 60 counties that grew in 2022.

Three Florida counties, with one of the topping the list, netted a positive level of domestic migration in 2023.

Though Polk County slightly dropped since the previous year, it had the highest level of positive domestic migration with 26,029. Pasco County landed in third with 23,750, while Marion County filled the ninth slot with 15,167.

Overall, 60 percent (1,876) of U.S. counties gained population in 2023, an increase from 52 percent (1,649) of counties that grew from 2021 to 2022.

Regions of the country that saw large numbers of people leaving during the early pandemic are starting to recover, Lauren Bowers, who heads the Census Bureau’s Population Estimates Branch, said in a news release. At the same time, growth is slowing in some areas of the West, such as Arizona and Idaho.

The report also showed that 80 percent of U.S. counties saw populations grow through immigration. The highest numbers were in Miami-Dade County, Florida, and Harris County, Texas. All counties in Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Rhode Island experienced positive net international migration.

Florida saw growth in 96 percent of its 67 counties. Other states where a large percentage of counties grew were Idaho and Tennessee.

The 10 fastest-growing counties with a population of 20,000 or more were in the South — six in Texas, two in Georgia, and one each in South Carolina and Virginia.

Eight of the 10 counties that led the nation with the highest population increases were in Texas. At the same time, Maricopa County, Arizona, which had been the fastest growing county in 2022, dropped to No. 4, and Polk County, Florida, the only other non-Texas county in the top 10, came in at No. 5.

The fastest-declining counties of 20,000 or more were Lassen County, California, and Randolph County, Missouri. The population in Bronx County, New York, also continued to decline.

Los Angeles County, California, saw the greatest population loss in 2023, with 56,420 in 2023 — following a loss of 89,697 people in 2022. Kings, Queens, and Bronx counties in New York followed with population losses of 28,306; 26,362; and 25,332, respectively.

Among other large declines were Cook County, Illinois, which lost 24,494 people; Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, which lost 16,294 people; and Orange County, California, which lost 14,617 people.

The report noted that as the nation’s death rate declined in 2023 from pandemic-era highs, so did population decreases as a result of natural causes. Deaths outnumbered births in fewer counties in 2023, with 69 percent reporting a natural decrease in population, compared to 74 percent in 2022.

Births outnumbered deaths in nearly one-third (31 percent) of counties in 2023, led by Alaska and New Jersey. The counties with the highest levels of natural population increases in 2023 were Harris County, Texas; Los Angeles County, California; Dallas County, Texas; Kings County, New York; and Tarrant County, Texas.

Orlando, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Kissimmee, Sanford all had notable population gains between 2022 and 2023, the report says.

The following Florida areas had four of the five U.S. metro areas with the quickest growth between 2022 and 2023: Wildwood-The Villages (4.7%), Lakeland-Winter Haven (3.8%), Ocala (3.4%) and Port St. Lucie (3.1%).

The following Florida counties had the highest natural decrease, where deaths outnumbered births:

• Pinellas (4,945)
• Sarasota (3,399)
• Brevard (3,044)
• Volusia (3,003)
• Marion (2,480)

Miami-Dade County, with 54,457, had one of the most significant increases in positive net international migration.

Almost three-fourths (73 percent) of the nation’s 387 metro areas saw population growth from 2022 to 2023. Approximately 58 percent of the nation’s 538 “micro areas” — urban areas of 10,000-50,000 population — saw their populations increase.

Clewiston bested eight other micro cities nationwide for annual growth with 4.2 percent. Okeecheebee rounded out the top 10 list with 2.6 percent.