More people left Oahu between July 1, 2013, and July 1, 2014, than moved in, but births made up the difference and nudged the island’s population closer to 1 million, according to data released Thursday by the Census Bureau.

With 991,788 residents, Oahu remained 8,212 people shy of reaching a milestone of a population of 1 million.

The overall state population of 1,419,561 residents in 2014 also got a boost from the presence of 51,045 military members — the biggest military presence in Hawaii since World War II, said state Economist Eugene Tian.

In 2010, only 62 people left Oahu for other U.S. destinations, according to the Census Bureau. By July 1, 2014, the number had jumped to 7,336.

Between July 1, 2013, and July 1, 2014, Honolulu was the only island county that saw more people leave than move in, according to the Census data.

Although Oahu gained 6,702 residents as a result of international migration, the island lost 7,336 people who moved to other areas of the United States.

But Oahu had an overall 0.5 percent increase in population because an estimated 13,743 births nearly doubled the 7,869 deaths.

The trend of more people leaving Oahu than moving in is playing out at businesses such as the M. Dyer & Sons Inc. moving company.

"It’s not drastic, but that is what our figures show," said company President Rebecca Parking. "It’s the cost of living, education, wishing to retire on the mainland. We’re hearing quite a bit of that."

Chris Ota, 30, of Nuuanu, already bought a one-way ticket to take him to San Francisco on April 22.

He was born and raised on Oahu, lives in the only house he’s ever known, graduated from Roosevelt High School in 2002 and got two associate arts degrees at Kapiolani Community College in 2007.

"I’m just tired of living on the island," Ota said. "I’ve been traveling a lot in the past three or four years and just realized there’s so much more out there."

Ota has some job interviews lined up in Silicon Valley for his work as a Web designer but has no offers and no place to stay.

"I’ll just figure everything out when I get there," he said. "I’ve never even lived outside of the house. I’m going to jump into the deep end and be on my own figuring it out."

Tian, the state economist, maintains the migration numbers that show more people left Oahu than moved in will have to be re-evaluated.

The data comparing who’s moving in and who’s moving out are a "pure estimate," Tian said. "The number is subject to change."

"Overall our state population is growing at a faster rate than the rest of the nation — 3.3 percent compared to 4.4 percent for Hawaii" since the April 1, 2010, Census, Tian said. "Our economy is better and we have the fifth lowest unemployment rate."

But Tian agrees that people continue to leave the islands for economic reasons.

"We always rank among the highest in terms of cost of living," he said. "The labor market on the mainland was improving last year and 2015 is going to be better also."

According to the Census Bureau, Hawaii County grew 1.5 percent for an estimated population of 194,190. Maui County saw a 1.4 percent increase, resulting in a population of 163,019. Kauai County grew 1.1 percent, for a population of 70,475.

Kalawao County, the Kalaupapa peninsula on the island of Molokai, is listed as the second least populous county in the country.

The isolated population of 89 Hansen’s disease patients, health care workers and federal parks employees had been steady over the last few years, after dropping from a count of 90 during the 2010 Census.

Kalawao County’s 2014 Census count was just slightly bigger than Loving County, Texas, which has 86 residents.