In the depths of the coronavirus pandemic, hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers packed up and fled, raising the possibility that the ravaged city had entered a long-term slide.
New York’s population has yet to fully recover, but new census data released on Thursday reveals that it is finally growing again after a steep drop. It reached 8.48 million in July 2024, up from 8.39 million in July 2023.
The increase was seen as a positive sign that the population of America’s largest city had not only stabilized but, in fact, seemed on track to resume the extended trend of growth seen before the pandemic, according to demographic and policy experts.
“Despite everything the city has had to overcome in recent years, people clearly want to be here,” said Jonathan Bowles, the executive director of the Center for an Urban Future, a Manhattan think tank that researches policy issues facing cities.
Mr. Bowles added, “New York still faces a number of challenges, but there’s a lot that’s going right for the city today.”
The city grew by about 1 percent, gaining 87,184 residents between 2023 and 2024 — largely because of a steady increase in newcomers from other countries — while at the same time fewer residents left for elsewhere, according to the census data.
The number of births and deaths in the city remained relatively stable, with births continuing a slow downward trend, in line with a broader national pattern.
However, the population remained well below its peak of 8.8 million residents, reached in early 2020.
Even as New York’s population has climbed back, many concerns remain about its future, including the high cost of living and a lack of affordable housing that has pushed out many lower- and middle-income residents in recent years. Mayor Eric Adams’s legal problems have also left a leadership void, and the Trump administration’s escalating crackdown on immigrants has alarmed many New Yorkers.
New York has long relied on a constant influx of immigrants to replace those who leave and to propel the city’s population growth. “That’s the secret to New York City’s demographic success,” said John Mollenkopf, a professor of political science at the graduate school of the City University of New York.
But during the first Trump administration, beginning in 2017, there was a decline in immigrants moving to the city, Professor Mollenkopf said. It remains to be seen how Mr. Trump’s return will affect international migration, “and that may temper that force in increasing the city’s population,” he added.
Before the pandemic, city officials had projected that New York’s population would reach 9 million within two decades. Instead, the pandemic set off an exodus from New York and other American cities.
Compared with the peak in early 2020, New York’s population in July 2024 was down by a total of 326,118 people, according to census numbers.
But fears of the city’s demise turned out to be overblown. The new census numbers on Thursday notably revised last year’s estimate to show that the city grew between 2022 and 2023 for the first time since the pandemic. According to the new numbers, the city added 34,709 residents in that period for a total population of 8.39 million. Earlier estimates had shown the city’s population shrinking.
City officials had challenged those figures, saying the number of migrants and other people living in group settings like shelters had been underestimated. More than 200,000 migrants have passed though the city’s shelters since the spring of 2022.
“This new data puts a number to what we’re feeling: New York City is back and growing again,” said Dan Garodnick, the director of the Department of City Planning. “Our city remains a destination for people from around the world, and these numbers are very encouraging.”
The new census numbers showed that Manhattan, the city’s richest borough, grew by about 1.7 percent — the most of any borough. Its population increased for the third straight year, by 27,435 residents to 1.66 million.
The populations of the other four boroughs also increased. Brooklyn and Queens each grew by nearly 1 percent, with Brooklyn adding 24,694 residents and Queens 22,159 residents.
The Bronx and Staten Island each grew by less than 1 percent. The Bronx added 9,458 residents, and Staten Island — the only borough to fully recoup its pandemic population slide — added 3,438 residents.
Donovan Richards, the Queens borough president, said that more people have moved to Queens as more affordable housing has been built in neighborhoods including Jamaica, Long Island City and the Rockaways.
Mr. Richards said that he welcomed the arrival of more immigrants to the borough — including many who stay in city-run shelters — and that he saw them as part of its future.
“This borough will always be a sanctuary — a safe place and a harbor — for people looking to build a better life,” he said.