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 Platte County with comparisons to Wyoming and the nation at large. This analysis features alternative approaches toward discussing, diagnosing and comparing Platte 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.

Figure 1 tracks Platte County's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Platte County's population rose from 6,380 in 1969 to 8,645 in 2022, for a net gain of 2,265, or 35.50%.

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 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.

Figure 3 portrays Platte 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.

Platte County's overall population growth was 35.50% over 1969-2022 trailed Wyoming's increase of 76.71%, and fell below the United States' increase of 65.57%.

Another interesting and insightful way of comparing the population growth of Platte County is to trace 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, Platte County's population totaled 1.94% of Wyoming's population, while in 2022 it equated to 1.49% thereby yielding a -0.45% share-shift.

Figure 5 shows the short-run pattern of Platte 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, Platte County's population grew at an annual rate of 0.65% over 1970-2022. The county recorded its highest growth in 1979 (16.95%) and posted its lowest growth in 1982 (-8.97%). In 2022, Platte County's population declined by -0.33%

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 Platte 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, Platte County's annual population growth rate averaged 5.07%. It averaged -1.90% during the 1980s, 0.53% in the 1990s, -0.29% throughout the 2000s, -0.11% during the 2010s, 0.52% thus far this decade (2020-2022).

Figure 7 compares the decade average growth rates for Platte County noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for Wyoming and the nation. As the chart reveals, Platte County's average annual population growth outperformed Wyoming's average during the 1970s (5.07% vs. 3.23%), lagged Wyoming's average throughout the 1980s (-1.90% vs. 0.18%), lagged Wyoming's average in the 1990s (0.53% vs. 0.71%), posted below Wyoming's average in the 2000s (-0.29% vs. 1.31%), posted below Wyoming's average in the 2010s (-0.11% vs. 0.28%), and outpaced Wyoming's average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (0.52% vs. 0.35%).

Finally, relative to nationwide population growth trends, Platte County outpaced the nation throughout the 1970s (5.07% vs. 1.10%), recorded underneath the nation during the 1980s (-1.90% vs. 0.95%), recorded underneath the nation in the 1990s (0.53% vs. 1.23%), fell below the nation throughout the 2000s (-0.29% vs. 0.95%), recorded underneath the nation during the 2010s (-0.11% vs. 0.74%), and recorded above the nation over 2020-2022 (0.52% vs. 0.31%).