by Kim Jarrett
Tennessee’s population grew from 7.1 million in 2023 to 7.2 million this year, according to the latest statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The state’s population has continued to grow over the past five years. The state reached 7 million in population for the first time in 2022, according to the data.
The Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville predicted early this year that the number of residents would grow to 7.94 million by 2040. The 65 and older demographic will increase by 25%, the university said.
The Volunteer State’s net population grew by 79,446 from July 2023 to July 2024. People from other states are continuing to flow into Tennessee–more than 48,000. That is down from numbers measuring growth from July 2022 to July 2023, when domestic growth was 60,293.
Tennessee also attracted residents from other countries. More than 27,000 were counted in the latest numbers, down from 22,704 the previous year.
Tennessee’s natural population growth, the number of deaths subtracted from the number of births, is 3,358.
The U.S. population grew by almost 1%, according to the Census Bureau.
“An annual growth rate of 1.0% is higher than what we’ve seen over recent years but well within historical norms,” said Kristie Wilder, a demographer in the Census Bureau’s Population Division. “What stands out is the diminishing role of natural increase over the last five years, as net international migration has become the primary driver of the nation’s growth.”
The South is leading other regions in population growth. More than 1.7 million people are choosing other states, which accounts for 1.4% of the population growth. The western states are second with a growth rate of 0.9%, followed by the northeast, which is 0.8%, and the midwest, which is 0.6%.
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Kim Jarrett’s career spans over 30 years with stops in radio, print and television. She has won awards from both the Georgia Press Association and the Georgia Association of Broadcasters. Jarrett is an associate editor for The Center Square.
