Goshen County vs. Wyoming Comparative Trends Report: Population, 1969-2022 Briefing Report Outline: Page 1 of 13 Introduction Goshen County: 2022 Population = 12,562 2022 Percent of State = 2.16% Wyoming: 2022 Population = 581,381 2022 Percent of U.S. = 0.17% 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 Goshen County with comparisons to Wyoming and the nation at large. This analysis features alternative approaches toward discussing, diagnosing and comparing Goshen County vs. Wyoming'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. Page 2 of 13 Population, 1969-2022 Figure 1. Figure 1 traces Goshen County's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Goshen County's population rose from 10,724 in 1969 to 12,562 in 2022, for a net gain of 1,838, or 17.14%. 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. Page 3 of 13 Population, 1969-2022 Figure 2. Figure 2 traces Wyoming's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Wyoming's population rose from 329,000 in 1969 to 581,381 in 2022, for a net gain of 252,381, or 76.71%. 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. Page 4 of 13 Population Indices (1969=100): 1969-2022 Figure 3. Figure 3 shows Goshen County's population growth in a broader context by offering direct comparisons across time with Wyoming, 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. Goshen County's overall population growth was 17.14% over 1969-2022 trailed Wyoming's increase of 76.71%, and fell below the United States' increase of 65.57%. Page 5 of 13 Population as a Percent of the Wyoming Total: 1969-2022 Figure 4. Another interesting and insightful way of contrasting the population growth of Goshen County is to compare its individual percentage contributions to Wyoming's statewide population over time, as shown in Figure 4. A rising share means a region's population grew faster, or declined less, than Wyoming's population, while a declining share shows it grew more slowly. In 1969, Goshen County's population comprised 3.26% of Wyoming's population, while in 2022 it equated to 2.16% thereby yielding a -1.10% share-shift.
Page 6 of 13 Goshen County Population: Annual Percent Change, 1970-2022 Figure 5. Figure 5 displays the short-run pattern of Goshen 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, Goshen County's population grew at an annual rate of 0.31% over 1970-2022. The county posted its highest growth in 1980 (4.21%) and posted its lowest growth in 2016 (-2.30%). In 2022, Goshen County's population grew by 0.04% Page 7 of 13 Goshen 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 depicts the annual percent change in Goshen 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, Goshen County's annual population growth rate averaged 0.83%. It averaged 0.74% in the 1980s, 0.01% during the 1990s, 0.37% throughout the 2000s, -0.31% in the 2010s, 0.01% thus far this decade (2020-2022). Page 8 of 13 Population Growth: Average Annual Percent Change by Decade Figure 7. Figure 7 compares the decade average growth rates for Goshen County noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for Wyoming and the nation. As the chart reveals, Goshen County's average annual population growth amounted to less than Wyoming's average throughout the 1970s (0.83% vs. 3.23%), led Wyoming's average throughout the 1980s (0.74% vs. 0.18%), recorded under Wyoming's average in the 1990s (0.01% vs. 0.71%), trailed Wyoming's average throughout the 2000s (0.37% vs. 1.31%), trailed Wyoming's average during the 2010s (-0.31% vs. 0.28%), and recorded under Wyoming's average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (0.01% vs. 0.35%). Finally, relative to nationwide population growth trends, Goshen County recorded underneath the nation over the 1970s (0.83% vs. 1.10%), trailed the nation in the 1980s (0.74% vs. 0.95%), trailed the nation throughout the 1990s (0.01% vs. 1.23%), lagged the nation throughout the 2000s (0.37% vs. 0.95%), lagged the nation during the 2010s (-0.31% vs. 0.74%), and fell under the nation over 2020-2022 (0.01% vs. 0.31%). Page 9 of 13
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