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 Kitsap County with comparisons to Washington and the nation at large. This analysis features alternative approaches toward discussing, diagnosing and comparing Kitsap County vs. Washington'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 traces Kitsap County's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Kitsap County's population rose from 101,363 in 1969 to 277,673 in 2022, for a net gain of 176,310, or 173.94%.

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 Washington's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Washington's population rose from 3,343,000 in 1969 to 7,785,786 in 2022, for a net gain of 4,442,786, or 132.90%.

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 Kitsap County's population growth in a broader context by offering direct comparisons across time with Washington, 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.

Kitsap County's overall population growth was 173.94% over 1969-2022 outpaced Washington's increase of 132.90%, and topped the United States' increase of 65.57%.

Another interesting and insightful way of highlighting the population growth of Kitsap County is to trace its individual percentage contributions to Washington's statewide population over time, as shown in Figure 4. A rising share means a region's population grew faster, or declined less, than Washington's population, while a declining share shows it grew more slowly.

In 1969, Kitsap County's population comprised 3.03% of Washington's population, while in 2022 it equated to 3.57% thereby yielding a +0.53% share-shift.

Figure 5 shows the short-run pattern of Kitsap 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, Kitsap County's population grew at an annual rate of 1.94% over 1970-2022. The county posted its highest growth in 1973 (9.81%) and recorded its lowest growth in 2005 (-0.89%). In 2022, Kitsap County's population grew by 0.39%

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 Kitsap County's population since 1970, but this time they are displayed with average growth rates for the decade of the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020-2022.

During the 1970s, Kitsap County's annual population growth rate averaged 3.39%. It averaged 2.65% in the 1980s, 2.33% throughout the 1990s, 0.82% throughout the 2000s, 1.01% throughout the 2010s, 0.33% thus far this decade (2020-2022).

Figure 7 compares the decade average growth rates for Kitsap County noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for Washington and the nation. As the chart reveals, Kitsap County's average annual population growth topped Washington's average throughout the 1970s (3.39% vs. 1.85%), outpaced Washington's average during the 1980s (2.65% vs. 1.70%), recorded above Washington's average during the 1990s (2.33% vs. 2.10%), recorded under Washington's average in the 2000s (0.82% vs. 1.33%), amounted to less than Washington's average throughout the 2010s (1.01% vs. 1.37%), and posted below Washington's average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (0.33% vs. 0.64%).

Finally, relative to nationwide population growth trends, Kitsap County recorded above the nation during the 1970s (3.39% vs. 1.10%), surpassed the nation in the 1980s (2.65% vs. 0.95%), exceeded the nation throughout the 1990s (2.33% vs. 1.23%), trailed the nation in the 2000s (0.82% vs. 0.95%), exceeded the nation in the 2010s (1.01% vs. 0.74%), and surpassed the nation over 2020-2022 (0.33% vs. 0.31%).