U.S. Census Bureau data shows Orlando’s population expanded 2.7% in 2024 – above the Florida rate of 2.0%, and the highest rate among the country’s 30 most populous regions.
| ✓ | New population estimates indicate the Orlando MSA added 76,000 new residents between July 1, 2023, and July 1, 2024. |
| ✓ | Orlando was the fastest-growing large region in the U.S., becoming the 20th most populous region in the country in the process. |
| ✓ | International migration has become the key driver of the Orlando region’s population growth as divergent paths continue to emerge within the region. |
Orlando Market Commentaries are a series of timely analyses produced by the Orlando Economic Partnership’s Research & Strategy team. Commentaries are typically associated with a major data release or cover areas key to advancing the Partnership’s goal of Broad-based Prosperity®.
Every March, the U.S. Census Bureau releases new population estimates for counties and regions across the country. This year’s release suggests the Orlando region’s population reached 2,940,513 at mid-year 2024 – adding 75,969 new residents in the year ending July 1, 2024, or approximately 1,500 per week.
Nation’s Fastest-Growing Large Region
Orlando’s population expanded 2.7% in 2024 – above the Florida rate of 2.0%, and the highest rate among the country’s 30 most populous region. In absolute terms, the Orlando MSA added the seventh most residents of any region in 2024 – more than Atlanta, with double the population, and just 12,000 fewer than Jacksonville and Tampa combined.
Orlando’s growth was part of a well-documented and ongoing trend of the U.S. population shifting South, with regions in Texas, Florida, and North Carolina again dominating the list of fastest-growing large MSAs in the country.
With this latest release, Orlando is now the 20th most populous region in the U.S – a major milestone for the region as it continues to emerge on both the domestic and global scene.
Since the 2020 Census, the Orlando region has gained a total of 267,126 new residents – broadly comparable to the combined population of the region’s four most populous cities after Orlando (Kissimmee, Sanford, St. Cloud, and Apopka). Almost 65% of that growth has been attributable to international migration, with 25% due to domestic migration, and just 10% from natural change (births minus deaths). International migration was particularly pronounced in the year ending July 2024, contributing 88% of the region’s total population gain.
Residents who have moved to the region since 2020 now account for 8.1% of Orlando’s current population, the highest share among the country’s 30 most populous regions. Net migration may broadly be considered an indicator of a region’s attractiveness as people are generally drawn to where they perceive they will have a better life.
Divergent Paths
All four counties within the Orlando MSA – Lake, Orange, Osceola, and Seminole – added residents in 2024. However, divergent paths continue to emerge. While Osceola and Lake were among the nation’s 25 fastest-growing counties in 2024, ranking 11th and 23rd respectively, population growth in both Orange and Seminole slowed from 2023 as domestic movers appeared to favor locations perceived to be lower-cost. Both counties experienced a net outflow of residents domestically and were largely reliant on international migration for their population growth.
Almost 60% of all net migration to the region since 2020 has been to Lake or Osceola despite the two counties accounting for just 31% of the region’s population. County-level migration data also suggests evidence of intra-region migration, with Orange and Seminole both running net outflows to Lake and Osceola.
To 2045
The latest population forecast from the University of Florida (produced in 2024, before this latest round of Census estimates) suggests the Orlando region could welcome close to another one million residents by 2045.
This new release likely accelerates that timeline. In the short term, for example, if population growth continued at the same pace in the second half of 2024 and into 2025, Orlando will become a region of three million people in the next few months.
Whenever that next milestone arrives, all newcomers to the Orlando region will seek good jobs, affordable housing, great neighborhoods, and well-planned infrastructure. The Partnership’s Orlando 2045 initiative, launching this summer and setting forth a shared vision for a prosperous, vibrant, and sustainable future for the region, is our opportunity to plan intentionally for this growth, and to ensure Orlando becomes one of the world’s next great regions.
