The U.S. Census Bureau released new state-level statistics on geographic mobility and place of birth for 2023 on October 17, 2024, giving researchers, policymakers and the public a fresh picture of how Americans moved within and into the United States.

The release, issued as a tip sheet (Press Release Number CB24-TPS.104) rather than a full news release, contains two table packages based on the 2023 American Community Survey (ACS) 1-year estimates.

What the tables cover

The first package, State-to-State Migration Flows, provides estimates of the number of people moving between the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, as well as migration to the United States from abroad. This year's table introduces a new look-up tool that allows users to obtain migration flow estimates for individual states — a practical change for anyone tracking inbound and outbound movement in a specific state.

The second package, State of Residence by Place of Birth, provides estimates of people living in the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico in 2023, broken down by their place of birth.

Who is affected and why it matters

Geographic mobility, as the Census Bureau defines it, refers to the movement of people within and across geographic boundaries. The new figures matter for state planners, employers, housing analysts and demographers who rely on annual migration estimates to gauge population shifts.

For readers of Passport File who track U.S. migration patterns, the datasets offer the official federal benchmark for domestic relocation flows. The inclusion of arrivals from abroad in the State-to-State Migration Flows table also gives a window into how international movement feeds into state populations.

What changed in this release

The key new feature is the look-up tool in the State-to-State Migration Flows table. Users previously had to work through the full table package to find state-level flow estimates; the tool simplifies retrieving those numbers for a chosen state.

The data itself follows the established methodology: the estimates come from the ACS 1-year file, the Census Bureau's annual survey measuring social, housing and demographic characteristics of the U.S. population.

Accessing the data

Both table packages are available on the Census Bureau's website under the Geographic Mobility time-series tables: the State-to-State Migration Flows table and the State of Residence by Place of Birth table. The Census Bureau notes that no news release accompanies this product; the tip sheet is the sole announcement.

Readers with questions about the release can contact the Census Bureau's Public Information Office at 301-763-3030 or 877-861-2010 (U.S. and Canada only), or by email at [email protected].

The page containing the tip sheet was last revised on October 17, 2024.