Census: State population grows by nearly 25,000 in past year

The state population increased from 3,853,118 in 2013 to 3,878,051 in 2014, according to Census Bureau estimates released Monday. The state’s 0.6 percent annual growth rate, which averages about 68 new residents per day, was slower than the 0.7 national population growth rate and even slower than that in Texas, which grew by 1.7 percent.

But Oklahoma increased in population at a faster rate than in the neighboring states of Kansas, Arkansas and Missouri, where the population increased 0.3 percent in each state since 2013. In all, 23 states grew faster in population than Oklahoma between 2013 and 2014.

About six in 10 of the new Oklahoma residents were a product of natural growth, or the difference between births and deaths. The remaining estimated 40 percent of new residents to the state came from outside Oklahoma.

International migration accounted for 5,691 of the 10,068 new residents from outside the state with the balance coming from other states.

Since 2010, the Oklahoma population has increased 3.4 percent, which is faster than the 3.3 percent national growth rate.

The energy boom state of North Dakota added 15,625 new residents in the past year to make it the fastest growing state with a 2.2 percent increase in the population.

Florida, meanwhile, added 293,000 new residents in the year ending July 1 to become the third-most populous state, passing New York. Florida now has a population of 19.9 million to New York’s 19.7 million. California remained the nation’s most populous state in 2014, with 38.8 million residents, followed by Texas, at 27 million.

Six states lost population between July 1, 2013, and July 1, 2014: Illinois (9,972 or -0.08 percent), West Virginia (3,269 or -0.18 percent), Connecticut (2,664 or -0.07 percent), New Mexico (1,323 or -0.06 percent, Alaska (527 or -0.07 percent) and Vermont (293 or -0.05 percent).

The United States saw its population increase by 2.4 million to 318.9 million, or 0.75 percent.