New York’s population is 20,002,427 as of July 1, 2025, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau estimate, keeping it the 4th most populous U.S. state. Growth has nearly flatlined, with the state adding just 1,008 residents between 2024 and 2025 while still sitting 1.0% below its April 2020 count.
Population of New York 2026
New York Population counts released by the U.S. Census Bureau describe a state that has stopped shrinking but has not started growing in any real sense either. As of July 1, 2025, New York held 20,002,427 residents, up by only 1,008 people from the year before. That is annual growth of about 0.01%, one of the slowest paces recorded anywhere in the country during the same period. The figure keeps New York in 4th place nationally, trailing California, Texas, and Florida, a ranking it has held for years even as its overall share of the U.S. population keeps slipping.
The bigger picture is a state still recovering ground lost earlier in the decade. New York counted 20,201,249 residents at the 2020 Census, and the state has never fully returned to that mark, remaining down 201,269 people, or 1.0%, through mid-2025. Downstate and upstate counties are moving in opposite directions: New York City continues losing residents on net while suburban counties in the Hudson Valley and on Long Island keep adding them. International migration has become the main engine keeping the state’s population from falling further, a shift that matters for congressional apportionment, school funding formulas, and business location decisions heading into 2026.
Interesting Facts About New York Population 2026
| Metric | Figure |
|---|---|
| State population (July 2025) | 20,002,427 |
| National rank | 4th most populous state |
| New York City population | 8,584,629 |
| Largest county | Kings County (Brooklyn) — 2,653,963 |
| Population change, 2024–2025 | +1,008 (+0.01%) |
| Population change since 2020 Census | -201,269 (-1.0%) |
| Female share of population | 51.6% |
| Net international migration (2025 est.) | 290,637 |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program (Vintage 2025); Cornell Program on Applied Demographics
The numbers above capture a state balancing on a narrow edge between growth and decline. New York would be losing population outright if not for international migration, which added roughly 290,637 net new residents in the year ending July 2025 and offset a continuing outflow of people moving to other U.S. states. Kings County, better known as Brooklyn, remains the most populous county not just in New York but anywhere in the country outside a handful of major cities counted as counties, home to more people than 15 individual U.S. states.
Every one of these figures feeds directly into decisions made in Albany and Washington. Population totals determine how many congressional seats and Electoral College votes New York holds after the 2030 Census, how federal funding formulas for transportation, housing, and healthcare are calculated, and how legislative districts get redrawn. A state adding barely a thousand people a year, after losing hundreds of thousands earlier in the decade, is a state whose political weight is shrinking relative to faster-growing states in the South and West.
New York Population by County 2026
| County | Population (2025 est.) |
|---|---|
| Kings County (Brooklyn) | 2,653,963 |
| Queens County | 2,358,182 |
| New York County (Manhattan) | 1,664,862 |
| Suffolk County | 1,546,090 |
| Bronx County | 1,406,332 |
| Nassau County | 1,398,939 |
| Richmond County (Staten Island) | 501,290 |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Seven counties above account for more than half of the entire state’s residents, underscoring how concentrated New York’s population really is around the New York City metropolitan region. Kings County alone holds over 2.6 million people, more than the total population of 15 U.S. states individually, while Suffolk County on Long Island has quietly become the fourth-largest county in the state by pulling ahead of the Bronx in recent estimates. Nassau and Suffolk together represent the bulk of Long Island’s population base outside the five boroughs.
The gap between the largest and smallest counties in New York is enormous. Richmond County, Staten Island, sits well below the other four boroughs, and many rural counties upstate hold fewer than 100,000 residents combined. This concentration means that population-based decisions, from hospital capacity planning to school district budgets, play out very differently in a borough like Queens than they do in the Adirondack region, where entire counties can have populations smaller than a single NYC neighborhood.
New York City Population by Borough 2026
| Borough | Population (2025 est.) |
|---|---|
| New York City (Total) | 8,584,629 |
| Brooklyn (Kings County) | 2,653,963 |
| Queens | 2,358,182 |
| Manhattan (New York County) | 1,664,862 |
| Bronx | 1,406,332 |
| Staten Island (Richmond County) | 501,290 |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
New York City’s population stood at 8,584,629 as of July 2025, down 2.5% from its April 2020 base of 8,805,594. The city has not regained the ground it lost during the pandemic years, when domestic outmigration to the suburbs and other states pushed the population well below its 2020 Census count of 8,804,190. Brooklyn and Queens together hold more than half the city’s residents, while Manhattan, despite its cultural weight, ranks only third among the five boroughs by raw population.
Staten Island stands apart from the rest of the city both in size and character, holding barely one-sixth the population of Brooklyn while covering a comparable land area with far lower density. City planners and the Census Bureau have flagged that group-quarters populations, including shelter residents, may still be undercounted in current estimates, meaning the true figure could run somewhat higher than the official 8,584,629. Even so, the borough-level breakdown remains the clearest single snapshot of how unevenly New York City’s population is distributed.
New York Population Growth Trend 2026
| Year | Population | Change from Prior Year |
|---|---|---|
| April 2020 (Census) | 20,201,249 | — |
| July 2020 | 20,122,262 | -81,434 |
| July 2021 | 19,835,345 | -286,917 |
| July 2023 | 19,571,216 | — |
| July 2024 | 19,867,248 | +296,032 |
| July 2025 | 20,002,427 | +1,008 |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates; Cornell Program on Applied Demographics
The trend line tells a story of sharp decline followed by a stall, not a recovery. New York lost close to 287,000 residents in the single year following the 2020 Census, the steepest annual drop the state has recorded in the modern estimates series, driven by a wave of domestic outmigration during the pandemic. The state clawed back hundreds of thousands of residents in the 2023–2024 estimate cycle, largely on the strength of international migration, before growth all but stopped again in the most recent year.
That near-zero 2024–2025 change of just 1,008 people is the headline number for anyone tracking New York’s population heading into 2026. Demographers at Cornell’s Program on Applied Demographics have pointed to slowing net international migration, still elevated domestic outmigration, and an aging population with more deaths than births in many upstate counties as the combined forces behind the plateau. Unless one of those trends reverses, New York is on track to keep losing congressional influence after the next decennial count.
New York Population by Age 2026
| Age Group | Share of State Population |
|---|---|
| Under 5 years | 5.2% |
| Under 18 years | 19.5% |
| 18 to 64 years | 61.2% |
| 65 years and over | 19.3% |
| Median age | 39.6 years |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts and American Community Survey
New York’s age structure skews older than the national average, with 65 years and over now accounting for 19.3% of residents, closing in on the share of children under 18. A median age of 39.6 years places the state noticeably above the U.S. median of roughly 39, reflecting decades of below-replacement birth rates in many upstate counties combined with longer life expectancy statewide. Downstate counties, particularly in New York City, tend to skew younger than their upstate counterparts because of continuous inflows of young workers and international migrants.
This aging pattern carries direct consequences for healthcare, housing, and workforce planning across New York. Counties with the oldest populations are seeing rising demand for senior housing, home healthcare, and Medicaid long-term-care spending, while school districts in the same counties often face enrollment declines. Meanwhile, the under-18 share sitting at just 19.5% signals that the pipeline of future workers and taxpayers is narrowing relative to the retiree population it must eventually support.
New York Population by Gender 2026
| Category | Share |
|---|---|
| Female population | 51.6% |
| Male population | 48.4% |
| NYC female share | 52.0% |
| NYC male share | 48.0% |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Women outnumber men across New York at both the state and city level, with females making up 51.6% of the statewide population and an even larger 52.0% share within New York City itself. This gap widens further among older age brackets, since women statistically outlive men by several years, meaning the 65-and-over population skews more heavily female than the population as a whole. The pattern is consistent with national trends but slightly more pronounced in New York because of the state’s older-than-average median age.
The gender balance has practical implications for services ranging from senior care to workforce participation programs. Female labor force participation in New York has been a consistent focus of state economic policy, particularly in New York City, where 59.2% of women aged 16 and over are in the civilian labor force according to Census Bureau data. Programs targeting childcare access and paid family leave in the state have cited this gender composition directly when justifying funding levels.
New York Population by Race and Ethnicity 2026
| Race / Ethnicity | Share of Population |
|---|---|
| White alone | 67.9% |
| Black or African American alone | 17.8% |
| Asian alone | 10.1% |
| Two or more races | 2.9% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native alone | 1.2% |
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone | 0.2% |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts, Population Estimates Program
New York’s racial composition remains more diverse than the national average across nearly every category. The state’s Black or African American share of 17.8% and Asian share of 10.1% both run well above U.S. figures of roughly 13.7% and 6.7% respectively, reflecting the state’s long history as a primary gateway for immigration and internal migration alike. New York City itself is dramatically more diverse than the statewide figures suggest, with White alone residents making up only about 33.8% of the city compared to 67.9% statewide, since upstate counties skew far less diverse.
Hispanic or Latino residents, counted separately from race under Census Bureau methodology, make up a substantial and growing share of both the city and state, concentrated heavily in the Bronx, parts of Queens, and Long Island’s western towns. This diversity shapes everything from bilingual education funding to how public health outreach gets designed, since 30.9% of state residents aged 5 and older report speaking a language other than English at home, a figure that climbs to 47.7% within New York City proper.
New York Household and Income Statistics 2026
| Metric | Figure |
|---|---|
| Total households | 7,722,646 |
| Persons per household | 2.49 |
| Median household income (2024) | $85,974 |
| Bachelor’s degree or higher (25+) | 40.2% |
| High school graduate or higher (25+) | 88.0% |
Source: New York State Office of the State Comptroller; U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey
New York counted roughly 7.72 million households as of the most recent Census Bureau estimates, with an average of 2.49 persons living under each roof, slightly below the national household size. According to the New York State Office of the State Comptroller, median household income reached $85,974 in 2024, a 2.0% increase over 2019 after adjusting for the period’s substantial inflation, though the Comptroller’s office also notes that consumer prices rose roughly 23.1% across those same years, meaning real purchasing power gains have been modest at best.
Educational attainment varies sharply by region, with 40.2% of adults 25 and older statewide holding a bachelor’s degree or higher, driven upward by Manhattan and other downstate counties with large professional workforces. Household income by age of householder follows a familiar arc: earnings rise through prime working years and decline again after 65, when many households shift to fixed retirement income.
New York Population by Region 2026
| Region | Population (2025 est.) | Change Since 2020 |
|---|---|---|
| New York City | 8,584,629 | -220,965 (-2.5%) |
| Long Island | 2,945,029 | +23,333 (+0.8%) |
| Mid-Hudson | 2,454,461 | +55,210 (+2.3%) |
| North Country | 409,589 | -12,089 (-2.9%) |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 Population Estimates; Cornell Program on Applied Demographics
Regional patterns inside New York diverge sharply from the statewide averages. The Mid-Hudson region, covering counties like Westchester, Rockland, and Dutchess, has posted the strongest growth in the state at +2.3% since 2020, benefiting from remote-work-driven relocation out of New York City and relatively strong housing construction. Long Island has also added residents on net, even as New York City itself continues shedding population at a pace of 2.5% since the 2020 Census.
The North Country, spanning the Adirondacks and the state’s border with Canada, is losing residents faster than any other major region, down 2.9% since 2020 as younger workers leave for job opportunities elsewhere and the remaining population continues aging. For anyone comparing these figures against national trends, current statistics on the total U.S. population show that most of the country’s fastest-growing regions sit in the South and West, a stark contrast to the divergent, largely stagnant regional pattern found across New York.
New York Immigration and Migration Statistics 2026
| Migration Metric | Figure (2025 Vintage Estimate) |
|---|---|
| Net international migration | 290,637 |
| Net international migration (2024 estimate) | 207,161 |
| Net domestic migration | Negative (net outflow) |
| Same house 1 year ago (state) | 90.1% |
Source: Cornell Program on Applied Demographics, using U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 data
International migration has become the single most important factor keeping New York’s population from declining outright. The Vintage 2025 estimate puts net international migration into the state at 290,637, a substantial revision upward from the previously reported 2024 figure of 207,161, after the Census Bureau incorporated new data sources for distributing immigrants among states. Without this inflow, New York would almost certainly be recording a population loss rather than the razor-thin gain reported for 2024–2025.
Domestic migration remains a persistent drag in the opposite direction, with more residents leaving New York for other U.S. states than arriving from them, a trend that has held for years and shows no clear sign of reversing. New York still ranks among the states losing the most people to domestic outmigration in absolute terms, even as it competes with fast-growing Sun Belt states such as the country’s most populated states for residents, jobs, and federal investment. Long-settled communities also factor in here: the state’s history includes the Native American tribes recognized across New York, whose populations and reservation lands predate the modern county and regional boundaries used in current Census reporting.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the population of New York in 2026?
New York’s population stood at 20,002,427 as of July 1, 2025, the most recent official Census Bureau estimate available. Figures specific to calendar-year 2026 have not yet been published by the Census Bureau.
Is New York losing population in 2026?
New York is not losing population outright right now, but growth has nearly stopped. The state added only 1,008 residents between 2024 and 2025, and it remains 201,269 people, or 1.0%, below its April 2020 Census count.
What is the population of New York City in 2026?
New York City had 8,584,629 residents as of July 2025, down 2.5% from its April 2020 population base of 8,805,594.
What is the most populated county in New York?
Kings County, home to Brooklyn, is the most populous county in New York with 2,653,963 residents, ahead of Queens County at 2,358,182.
What percentage of New York’s population is female?
Women make up 51.6% of New York’s statewide population and an even higher 52.0% share within New York City.
What is the median age in New York?
The median age in New York is 39.6 years, above the national median and reflecting the state’s aging population, particularly upstate.
How diverse is New York’s population by race?
New York is 67.9% White alone, 17.8% Black or African American, 10.1% Asian, and 2.9% two or more races, according to Census Bureau estimates, with far greater diversity concentrated in New York City than in upstate counties.
Why has New York’s population growth slowed so much?
Growth has slowed because rising international migration, which added 290,637 net residents in the most recent estimate year, has been mostly offset by continued domestic outmigration to other states, leaving only a marginal net gain.
What is New York’s national population ranking?
New York ranks 4th among all U.S. states by population, behind California, Texas, and Florida.
How many households are there in New York?
New York has approximately 7,722,646 households, with an average of 2.49 persons per household, according to the latest American Community Survey data.
Disclaimer: The data research report we present here is based on information found from various sources. We are not liable for any financial loss, errors, or damages of any kind that may result from the use of the information herein. We acknowledge that though we try to report accurately, we cannot verify the absolute facts of everything that has been represented.
