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 1969-2021. The data used are those compiled by the Regional Income and Product Divisions of the Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce.

Figure 1 traces Goshen County's annual population for the period 1969-2021 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 53-year period, Goshen County's population rose from 10,724 in 1969 to 12,537 in 2021, for a net gain of 1,813, or 16.91%.

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.

Figure 2 tracks Wyoming's annual population for the period 1969-2021 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 53-year period, Wyoming's population rose from 329,000 in 1969 to 578,803 in 2021, for a net gain of 249,803, or 75.93%.

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.

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 16.91% over 1969-2021 trailed Wyoming's increase of 75.93%, and fell below the United States' increase of 64.88%.

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 2021 it comprised 2.17% thereby yielding a -1.09% share-shift.

Figure 5 highlights the short-run pattern of Goshen County's population growth by tracking the year-to-year percent change over 1970-2021. The average annual percent change for the entire 52-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 1970-2021. The county posted its highest growth in 1980 (4.21%) and posted its lowest growth in 2016 (-2.30%). In 2021, Goshen County's population grew by 0.27%

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 illustrates 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 2020-2021.

During the 1970s, Goshen County's annual population growth rate averaged 0.83%. It averaged 0.74% in the 1980s, 0.01% in the 1990s, 0.37% during the 2000s, -0.31% throughout the 2010s, -0.08% thus far this decade (2020-2021).

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 during the 1970s (0.83% vs. 3.23%), recorded above Wyoming's average throughout the 1980s (0.74% vs. 0.18%), trailed Wyoming's average during the 1990s (0.01% vs. 0.71%), trailed Wyoming's average throughout the 2000s (0.37% vs. 1.31%), posted below Wyoming's average during the 2010s (-0.31% vs. 0.28%), and lagged Wyoming's average over the 2 year period of the current decade, 2020-2021 (-0.08% vs. 0.30%).

Finally, relative to nationwide population growth trends, Goshen County trailed the nation throughout the 1970s (0.83% vs. 1.10%), posted below the nation over the 1980s (0.74% vs. 0.95%), fell under the nation over the 1990s (0.01% vs. 1.23%), lagged the nation during the 2000s (0.37% vs. 0.95%), recorded underneath the nation during the 2010s (-0.31% vs. 0.74%), and lagged the nation over 2020-2021 (-0.08% vs. 0.25%).