LINCOLN — While Nebraska’s overall population increased slightly to an estimated 2,018,006 in the latest Census report, the key component driving state growth in past years plummeted: immigration.

Data released Tuesday reveals a 0.6% annual population bump, or about 12,500 more residents overall from July 2024 through June 2025. The information also shows the three main components of population change.

Of the three, international migration was most glaring. More foreign-born newcomers still came to Nebraska than left, but the net growth of 6,599 was half the amount reported the previous year.

Josie Schafer of the Center for Public Affairs Research at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, the state’s liaison to the Census Bureau, attributes the reversal to federal immigration policies versus any shift in how the data is tracked.

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