The US mainland and Asia have been the main sources of immigrants to Hawaii since the early 19th century. Immigration remains a major source of population growth: between 1950 and 1980, Hawaii's net gain from migration was 91,000, and between 1980 and 1983, 15,000. In the 1980s, migration accounted for 23% of the net increase in population.
Since the early 1970s, about 40,000 mainland Americans have come each year to live in Hawaii. More than half are military personnel and their dependents, on temporary residence during their term of military service. From 1985 to 1990, Hawaii suffered a net loss from migration within the US, but experienced an overall net gain in migration due to immigration from abroad. Between 1990 and 1998, the net loss from domestic migration was 80,000. During the same period there was a net gain of 51,000 from international migration. In 1998, 5,465 foreign immigrants arrived in Hawaii. Between 1990 and 1998, the state's overall population increased 7.6%. In the period 1995–2000, 125,160 people moved into the state and 201,293 moved out, for a net loss of 76,133, of whom about 44,192 moved to California.