Tennessee population change between 1990 and 2024 includes the largest single-year increase in 2006 and revised figures now show 2022 as being the second largest.

A pickup in net migration from international sources offset slowing domestic migration to push Tennessee to a robust population increase of nearly 80,000 people last year.

Population estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau yesterday show Tennessee’s population was 7,227,750 people on July 1, 2024. That equates to a 1.1 percent increase of 79,446 people since last year.

Nearly all of Tennessee’s gains in 2024 came from net migration – more people moving into the state than are moving out. From domestic sources, the state netted 48,700 new residents. Net migration from international sources added 27,650 new people.

Tennessee’s estimated gains from the international component were likely a single-year high in 2024. They came after the Census Bureau adjusted the way it estimates net international migration to better account for increased migrant flows beginning in 2022. Similar adjustments were made earlier in the decade to reflect withering international movements at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

That methodology change also made the usual revision to earlier years in the time series much more significant than prior releases. The revised data boosts Tennessee’s 2022 population increase to 96,477 people, which is the second largest in the state’s history (Figure 1). For context, it was previously reported as being the state’s seventh-largest gain. The state’s figure for 2023 was also revised upward by over 21,800 people.

There was also a modest natural population increase of 3,358 people last year. That came after births edged slightly higher to 83,233, compared with 79,865 deaths in 2024. Deaths have declined in consecutive years after peaking at over 91,000 in 2022.

Tennessee was the eleventh-fastest growing state in 2024. Texas, which added nearly 563,000 people last year, had the country’s largest increase. Florida’s 467,000-person gain made it the fastest-growing at a 2.1 percent annual clip. Those two states, along with South Carolina (1.69 percent) and North Carolina (1.59 percent), propelled the South Region of the U.S. to a 1.4 percent increase. It was the only region beating the nation’s one percent gain last year.

The U.S. Population grew 1 percent since last year, adding 3.3 million people. This was the fastest annual increase in the country’s population since 2001.

Net Domestic Migration Reaches Cyclical Peak?

One trend that is becoming clearer is that Tennessee’s level of net domestic migration appears to be tapering. After reaching a single-year record and cyclical high of 83,116 people in 2022, the measure has fallen for two consecutive years, reaching 48,476 people in 2024.

This two-year slide largely explains Tennessee’s slowing population growth rate. After a torrid 1.4 percent gain in 2022, Tennessee’s overall rate of population growth declined to 1.2 percent in 2023 and 1.1 percent in 2024.

Net domestic migration measures the difference between the number of people moving into and out of Tennessee. Prior cyclical peaks occurred in 1994 and 2006.

The direction that the measure takes in 2025 and beyond is difficult to determine. Prior decades have shown that migration slows along with broader economic trends related to employment opportunities and housing. But, there is also a long-term decline in the number of people moving each year, and recently released mobility statistics from 2023 show it reached an all-time low of 8.5 percent of households relocated annually.