For the first time in a decade, Baltimore gained population.

The city halted nine straight years of population decline in 2024, according to data released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau. While the city’s population gain was marginal — only 0.1% — it could represent a turning point for a city where the population has declined by nearly 60,000 since 2010.

The increase was primarily driven by the city losing fewer people to domestic migration, a Banner analysis found. The city lost about 50% fewer people to net domestic migration in 2024 than it did in 2023. The city’s population is now 568,271, about 750 more residents than in 2023.

While it may be too early to know if the trend continues, Baltimore leaders were quick to hype the news.

“This progress is real, and more people are choosing to call Baltimore home,” said Kamau Marshall, a spokesman for Mayor Brandon Scott. “The city’s growing population sends a clear message: Baltimore’s comeback is underway.”

Scott’s administration credited a drop in homicides, bigger investments in education and recreation and declines in vacant properties as factors that contributed to the growth.

The population growth is significant because it either indicates that there might be more economic opportunities or the potential for future economic opportunities, said Michael Bader, associate professor of sociology at the Johns Hopkins University.

“If your trend is going toward growth, then that tends to mean your economy is expanding,” Bader said. “It tends to mean that you can do more things, rather than triaging problems that exist. You can start to think about expansion and doing things that you might not have been able to do in the past.”

Baltimore City Council President Zeke Cohen was also optimistic about the data.

“Baltimore is writing the greatest comeback story in American history,” Cohen said.

The council president said he’s excited about the population growth, but the city must “meet this moment” and commit to tackling “the issues that really matter — improving city services, fixing our broken permitting process, and fighting to bring down costs and put more money in our residents’ pockets.”

Bader, who is also the director of the 21st Century Cities Initiative at JHU, said there are numerous factors that drive population change. It’s hard to to say exactly why some residents might have left but didn’t or why new ones moved here, he said.

Along with a growing population, there are a growing number of residents who have trust in Baltimore’s government, he said, citing a 2024 Baltimore Area Survey from the 21st Century Cities Initiative.

“It could reflect both more positive sentiment in general, but it could also say that folks think that there’s leadership in City Hall and on the council that’s going to lead them in a direction that’s going to be positive,” Bader said.

Residents reelected Scott in November, making him the only mayor to be reelected to a second term since Martin O’Malley.

Fewer people moving away from Baltimore drove most of the population increase, data shows. After accounting for everyone who moved into and out of the city in 2023, 6,389 people moved from Baltimore to somewhere else in the country. In 2024, Baltimore lost only 3,279 residents to net domestic migration.

International immigration offset that loss. The city gained 3,516 residents from outside the country.

Thursday’s data release doesn’t have enough detail to say what parts of the city are growing, but Bader said the population growth is likely driven by Hispanic residents in Southeast Baltimore.

That population has been growing for years, but may be complicated by President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, Bader said.

“If the Trump administration policies have the effect that the Trump administration wants them to, then I think that that will be devastating for Maryland as a whole,” he said.

Population growth across Maryland was driven primarily by international migration. Overall, the state’s population increased by 46,158. Maryland’s population was 6,263,220 in 2024.

The U.S. population grew by 1% in 2024. The growth was primarily driven by international migration.

Baltimore, Anne Arundel and Howard counties also saw moderate population growth. The population increases were moderate. The highest increase in the Baltimore region was Howard County’s 0.7% increase. Queen Anne’s 1.9% increase was the most of any Maryland county.

The District of Columbia (2.2%), Florida (2.0%) and Texas (1.8%) saw the three highest increases. Maryland’s population increase of 0.7% was the 25th highest.

City Councilman Mark Parker, who represents Baltimore’s 1st District where much of the city’s immigrant population is concentrated, said he believes the population growth is in part due to increased housing.

“We’ve had a lot of housing units come online,” he said. “You need that to grow. It’s one of the reasons I so appreciate the mayor’s commitment to rebuilding neighborhoods across the city and turning vacant properties into real opportunities for renting and homeownership. Because that’s critical for any kind of growth, right? We’ve seen that in the 1st District. We need to see it across the city.”

He added that for the 1st District, people want livable, safe, walkable communities where residents can interact and feel like part of the community.

Bader said that as population grows, there is a compounding effect that affects whether people will consider moving to the city and whether people consider staying in Baltimore.

“Growth occurs alongside places that have more jobs and more opportunities,” he said. “Being hired in Baltimore, you put down more roots, and then that can eventually lead to larger growth as well. So I think that’s exactly the kind of process that happens in cities that grow.”

Baltimore Banner reporters Emily Opilo and Lee O. Sanderlin contributed to this story.