Daviess County vs. Indiana Comparative Trends Analysis: Population Growth and Change, 1969-2022 Introduction Daviess County: 2022 Population = 33,418 2022 Percent of State = 0.49% Indiana: 2022 Population = 6,833,037 2022 Percent of U.S. = 2.05% Attracting and retaining people to live, work, raise a family, and retire underlies the economic vitality of any region. Population growth is both a cause--and a consequence--of economic growth. Patterns of population growth and change reflect differences among regions to attract and retain people both as producers and consumers in their economy. The following graphs offer a broad overview of trends in the pattern of population growth and change of Daviess County with comparisons to Indiana and the nation at large. This analysis features alternative approaches toward discussing, diagnosing and comparing Daviess County vs. Indiana's population growth over 1969-2022. The data used are those compiled by the Regional Income and Product Divisions of the Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce. Population, 1969-2022 Figure 1. Figure 1 traces Daviess County's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Daviess County's population rose from 26,638 in 1969 to 33,418 in 2022, for a net gain of 6,780, or 25.45%. NOTE: The county and state population totals reported by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) are from the Bureau of Census midyear (July 1) estimates. These estimates may differ from those prepared independently in some states by various agencies and/or universities. Population, 1969-2022 Figure 2. Figure 2 traces Indiana's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Indiana's population rose from 5,143,000 in 1969 to 6,833,037 in 2022, for a net gain of 1,690,037, or 32.86%. NOTE: The county and state population totals reported by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) are from the Bureau of Census midyear (July 1) estimates. These estimates may differ from those prepared independently in some states by various agencies and/or universities. Population Indices (1969=100): 1969-2022 Figure 3. Figure 3 portrays Daviess County's population growth in a broader context by offering direct comparisons across time with Indiana, the United States. The growth indices shown here express each region's population in 1969 as a base figure of 100, and the populations in later years as a percentage of the 1969 base figure. This method allows for more direct comparison of differences in population growth between regions that may differ vastly in size. Daviess County's overall population growth was 25.45% over 1969-2022 trailed Indiana's increase of 32.86%, and fell below the United States' increase of 65.57%. Population as a Percent of the Indiana Total: 1969-2022 Figure 4. Another interesting and insightful way of comparing the population growth of Daviess County is to trace its individual percentage contributions to Indiana's statewide population over time, as shown in Figure 4. A rising share means a region's population grew faster, or declined less, than Indiana's population, while a declining share shows it grew more slowly. In 1969, Daviess County's population totaled 0.52% of Indiana's population, while in 2022 it comprised 0.49% thereby yielding a -0.03% share-shift.
Daviess County Population: Annual Percent Change, 1970-2022 Figure 5. Figure 5 highlights the short-run pattern of Daviess County's population growth by tracking the year-to-year percent change over 1970-2022. The average annual percent change for the entire 53-year period is also illustrated on this chart to provide a benchmark for gauging periods of relative high--and relative low--growth against the backdrop of the long-term average. On average, Daviess County's population grew at an annual rate of 0.43% over 1970-2022. The county recorded its highest growth in 1980 (2.71%) and recorded its lowest growth in 1985 (-1.01%). In 2022, Daviess County's population grew by 0.11% Daviess County Population: Annual Percent Change and Decade Averages Over 1970-2022 Figure 6. Over the past five decades some counties have experienced extreme swings in growth, and often such swings have tended to coincide with the decades themselves. Figure 6 again shows the annual percent change in Daviess County's population since 1970, but this time they are overlayed with average growth rates for the decade of the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020-2022. During the 1970s, Daviess County's annual population growth rate averaged 0.20%. It averaged 0.18% throughout the 1980s, 0.77% in the 1990s, 0.51% during the 2000s, 0.61% during the 2010s, 0.07% thus far this decade (2020-2022). Population Growth: Average Annual Percent Change by Decade Figure 7. Figure 7 compares the decade average growth rates for Daviess County noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for Indiana and the nation. As the chart reveals, Daviess County's average annual population growth trailed Indiana's average in the 1970s (0.20% vs. 0.63%), topped Indiana's average in the 1980s (0.18% vs. 0.09%), fell below Indiana's average during the 1990s (0.77% vs. 0.91%), recorded under Indiana's average during the 2000s (0.51% vs. 0.67%), outgained Indiana's average throughout the 2010s (0.61% vs. 0.46%), and trailed Indiana's average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (0.07% vs. 0.35%). Finally, relative to nationwide population growth trends, Daviess County trailed the nation during the 1970s (0.20% vs. 1.10%), posted below the nation during the 1980s (0.18% vs. 0.95%), posted below the nation during the 1990s (0.77% vs. 1.23%), posted below the nation over the 2000s (0.51% vs. 0.95%), posted below the nation during the 2010s (0.61% vs. 0.74%), and fell below the nation over 2020-2022 (0.07% vs. 0.31%).
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