Metro Eastern Washington vs. Washington Comparative Trends Analysis: Population Growth and Change, 1969-2022 Introduction Metro Eastern Washington: 2022 Population = 843,420 2022 Percent of State = 10.83% Washington: 2022 Population = 7,785,786 2022 Percent of U.S. = 2.34% 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 Metro Eastern Washington with comparisons to Washington and the nation at large. This analysis features alternative approaches toward discussing, diagnosing and comparing Metro Eastern Washington 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. Population, 1969-2022 Figure 1. Figure 1 tracks Metro Eastern Washington's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Metro Eastern Washington's population rose from 369,136 in 1969 to 843,420 in 2022, for a net gain of 474,284, or 128.48%. 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 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. Population Indices (1969=100): 1969-2022 Figure 3. Figure 3 portrays Metro Eastern Washington'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. Metro Eastern Washington's overall population growth was 128.48% over 1969-2022 trailed Washington's increase of 132.90%, and topped the United States' increase of 65.57%. Population as a Percent of the Washington Total: 1969-2022 Figure 4. Another interesting and insightful way of comparing the population growth of Metro Eastern Washington is to compare 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, Metro Eastern Washington's population comprised 11.04% of Washington's population, while in 2022 it comprised 10.83% thereby yielding a -0.21% share-shift.
Metro Eastern Washington Population: Annual Percent Change, 1970-2022 Figure 5. Figure 5 highlights the short-run pattern of Metro Eastern Washington'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, Metro Eastern Washington's population grew at an annual rate of 1.58% over 1970-2022. Metro Eastern Washington posted its highest growth in 1980 (3.62%) and recorded its lowest growth in 1986 (-0.11%). In 2022, Metro Eastern Washington's population grew by 0.52% Metro Eastern Washington Population: Annual Percent Change and Decade Averages Over 1970-2022 Figure 6. Over the past five decades some geographical regions 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 Metro Eastern Washington'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, Metro Eastern Washington's annual population growth rate averaged 2.56%. It averaged 0.91% in the 1980s, 2.09% in the 1990s, 1.40% during the 2000s, 1.17% during the 2010s, 0.74% 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 Metro Eastern Washington noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for Washington and the nation. As the chart reveals, Metro Eastern Washington's average annual population growth topped Washington's average throughout the 1970s (2.56% vs. 1.85%), fell below Washington's average throughout the 1980s (0.91% vs. 1.70%), lagged Washington's average in the 1990s (2.09% vs. 2.10%), topped Washington's average during the 2000s (1.40% vs. 1.33%), amounted to less than Washington's average during the 2010s (1.17% vs. 1.37%), and outpaced Washington's average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (0.74% vs. 0.64%). Finally, relative to nationwide population growth trends, Metro Eastern Washington outgained the nation throughout the 1970s (2.56% vs. 1.10%), lagged the nation throughout the 1980s (0.91% vs. 0.95%), outpaced the nation during the 1990s (2.09% vs. 1.23%), recorded above the nation over the 2000s (1.40% vs. 0.95%), topped the nation throughout the 2010s (1.17% vs. 0.74%), and exceeded the nation over 2020-2022 (0.74% vs. 0.31%).
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