Idaho population hits key milestone before 2025
It was not a question of ‘if,’ but of ‘when.’ The question was answered and the answer was 2024.
Idaho’s population continues to grow and it hit a key milestone this year before the clock strikes 12 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2025. On July 1, 2024, the population officially hit 2,001,619, increasing by 30,497 people from the previous year.
The Idaho Department of Labor reported the growth based on the Vintage 2024 Population Estimates, which was published by the U.S. Census Bureau on Dec. 19. The growth shows a 1.5% increase, ranking Idaho seventh in the nation for growth.
Although that growth rate is higher than 2023, which saw a 1.4% increase, it was still lower than 2021 at 3% and 2022 at 2.1%.
“However, Idaho’s population continued to grow faster than both the United States as a whole (1%) and the west region (0.9%),” the Department of Labor stated in a release. “Among Idaho’s neighboring states, only Utah (1.8%) and Nevada (1.7%) had faster growth rates, with Idaho outpacing Montana (0.5%), Oregon (0.41%), Washington (1.3%) and Wyoming (0.4%).”
The data also showed that the growth in the Gem State is coming mainly from those moving from other states. Only 20% of the growth came from in-state births minus deaths at 6,195, while the rest, 24,282 people, came from somewhere beyond the borders of the state.
“Cumulatively, from 2020 to 2024, 74.1% of Idaho’s population growth has come through net migration from other U.S. states, with natural growth contributing 13.4% and international migration contributing 13.6%,” IDOL stated. “The 2024 estimates confirm the continuation of this broader pattern, with domestic migration contributing the bulk of the population growth relative to natural growth and international migration.”
