Indiana added 44,144 residents in 2024 to reach a total population of 6.92 million, the state's largest annual increase since 2008, according to analysis from the Indiana Business Research Center at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business.
"While the size of Indiana's growth in 2024 was similar to 2008, the drivers of change in these years were drastically different," said Matt Kinghorn, senior demographer at the Indiana Business Research Center.
"Back in 2008, natural increase - or the difference between births and deaths - accounted for 77% of Indiana's growth. In 2024, by contrast, a net international migration of 30,852 residents accounted for 70% of the state's growth."
Matthew Kinghorn. Photo by Josh Anderson, Indiana University Kelley School of Business
According to the Census Bureau, net international migration refers to any change of residence across U.S. borders. This includes those who are foreign born; those who are migrating between the U.S. and Puerto Rico; U.S. citizens migrating to and from the United States; and movement of Armed Forces personnel between the U.S. and overseas.
Indiana had nearly 9,160 more births than deaths in 2024. This is the state's highest level of natural increase since 2020 but remains well below the pre-pandemic norm, Kinghorn said.
Indiana had an average natural increase of roughly 21,140 residents per year from 2010 to 2019. Indiana also had a net inflow of 4,268 domestic migrants last year.
Indiana's 0.64% growth rate in 2024 trailed neighboring Kentucky (0.83%) but outpaced Michigan (0.57%), Illinois (0.54%) and Ohio (0.5%). Indiana's growth rate ranked 31st nationally.
The Indiana Business Research Center is part of a national network of state data centers and serves as Indiana's official representative to the U.S. Census Bureau on matters relating to the census and population estimates.
Around Indiana
For the second consecutive year, Boone and Hancock counties in the Indianapolis metro area were the state's fastest-growing communities. Boone County claimed the top spot in 2024 with a 3.4% growth rate, while Hancock County posted a 3.1% gain. Fellow Indy-area suburban counties Hamilton (1.9%) and Hendricks (1.9%) were next on the list, followed by Clark County (1.4%) in the Louisville metro area.
Johnson (1.4%), Jackson (1.4%), Floyd (1.3%), Madison (1.1%) and Allen (1.1%) counties rounded out the state's 10 fastest-growing communities.
In terms of the largest numeric gains, Hamilton County once again led the way in 2024 by adding 7,116 residents.
Marion County had the state's second-largest increase, adding 5,974 residents last year, a 0.6% gain. This is Marion County's largest annual increase since 2018. The state's most populous county was home to 981,628 residents in 2024, which ranks as the 54th-largest county in the U.S.
Other top gainers included Allen (4,164), Hendricks (3,488) and Hancock (2,634) counties.
All told, 73 of Indiana's 92 counties grew in 2024. This is the largest number of Indiana counties to show an annual population increase since 1997, Kinghorn said.
Indiana's rural rebound
Among the Hoosier counties that grew last year were 17 of Indiana's 23 rural counties - counties that are not designated as being part of either a metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.
Total population in Indiana's rural counties as a group climbed by 804 residents in 2024. This is the second year in a row that these counties combined for a 0.2% annual growth rate. From 2010 to 2020, by contrast, rural Indiana declined by an average of 1,067 residents per year.
Rural Indiana's population growth in 2024 was driven by a combined net inflow of nearly 1,550 residents, marking the fourth consecutive year that these counties as a group posted a positive net in-migration. However, overall population growth for the state's rural counties was dampened by a natural decrease of 716 residents last year.
The story is similar for the state's 25 mid-sized counties, known as micropolitan areas. After declining by an average of 342 residents per year during the 2010s, Indiana's mid-sized counties as a group have grown in each of the past four years. The 2024 increase of 2,673 residents was the largest gain over this stretch.
As in rural Indiana, growth in the state's mid-sized counties has been driven exclusively by a net in-migration of residents. In 2024, these counties combined for a net inflow of 3,289 residents yet had a natural population decrease of 588.
The 44 Indiana counties that are part of a metropolitan area combined to add 40,667 residents in 2024, which accounted for 92% of the state's growth last year. Metro Indiana had a net in-migration of 30,281 residents in 2024 and posted a natural population increase of 10,463.
In all, 75 of Indiana's 92 counties saw net in-migration in 2024, but only 30 counties had a natural increase in population.
Indiana's metropolitan areas
The 11-county Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood metro area added 26,661 residents last year, accounting for 60% of Indiana's net growth in 2024. The Indy metro area is home to more than 2.17 million people, which represents 31% of the state's population and ranks as the nation's 33rd-largest metro area out of 387.
Compared to large metro peers in neighboring states, the Indy area's growth rate of 1.24% trailed that of Columbus, Ohio (1.38%), but outpaced Louisville (1.20%), Cincinnati (0.88%), Chicago (0.76%), Detroit (0.71%) and Cleveland (0.26%).
Other Indiana metro areas to show relatively strong growth include Fort Wayne (1.0%), Lafayette-West Lafayette (0.6%) and Columbus (0.6%).
At the other end of the spectrum, the Michigan City-LaPorte and Bloomington metro areas both had population declines of 0.2%.
More information about these estimates is available from STATS Indiana's population data. The Indiana Business Research Center receives support from the Indiana Department of Workforce Development for its census work, including for the award-winning websites Hoosiers by the Numbers and STATS Indiana. Its work is also published quarterly in the Indiana Business Review and the bi-monthly IN Context.
U.S. Census Bureau population estimates represent the population as of July 1 of the year indicated. All estimates for the components of population change cover a period from July of the previous year through June of the year indicated.
