The United States has added nearly 2.2 million people in large metros with at least a million people last year, according to new data released by the Census Bureau. Sam Tenenbaum, head of multifamily insights for Cushman & Wakefield, said the data revealed some interesting storylines.
First, the population growth is a story of new U.S. immigrants, he said in a Behind the Numbers video. The census updated its methodology for estimating international migration, which resulted in significant revisions to prior year data and highlights the importance of international migration on U.S. population growth.
Tenenbaum said that of the roughly 2.2 million people added to major MSAs in the United States last year, 2.1 million came from international migration, about 96% of total population growth.
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“While this is likely to slow given the new administration, international migration remains a key source of growth for the labor market and broader demand for commercial real estate,” said Tenenbaum.
He said the other related storyline is that gateway cities are again growing.
“In a sharp contrast to the pandemic era, we have once again seen the nation's largest cities grow and, in some cases, outperform the U.S. average,” said Tenenbaum.
Boston, New York, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco outperformed the U.S. average in 2024. Los Angeles and Chicago also saw net population expansion last year, running counter to the prevailing narrative about those two cities.
“It's the first time in more than half a decade that all of these cities are seeing growth, which bodes well for all commercial real estate asset classes in the nation's largest cities,” said Tenenbaum.
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Kristen Smithberg
Kristen Smithberg is a Colorado-based freelance writer who covers commercial real estate, insurance, benefits and retirement topics for BenefitsPRO and other industry publications.
