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 Butte County with comparisons to South Dakota and the nation at large. This analysis features alternative approaches toward discussing, diagnosing and comparing Butte County vs. South Dakota'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 Butte County's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Butte County's population rose from 7,830 in 1969 to 10,774 in 2022, for a net gain of 2,944, or 37.60%.

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 South Dakota's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, South Dakota's population rose from 668,000 in 1969 to 909,824 in 2022, for a net gain of 241,824, or 36.20%.

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 Butte County's population growth in a broader context by offering direct comparisons across time with South Dakota, 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.

Butte County's overall population growth was 37.60% over 1969-2022 outpaced South Dakota's increase of 36.20%, and fell below the United States' increase of 65.57%.

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

In 1969, Butte County's population totaled 1.17% of South Dakota's population, while in 2022 it totaled 1.18% thereby yielding a +0.01% share-shift.

Figure 5 displays the short-run pattern of Butte 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 traced 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, Butte County's population grew at an annual rate of 0.62% over 1970-2022. The county recorded its highest growth in 1973 (5.71%) and posted its lowest growth in 1971 (-2.95%). In 2022, Butte County's population grew by 2.32%

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 traces the annual percent change in Butte 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, Butte County's annual population growth rate averaged 0.73%. It averaged -0.64% during the 1980s, 1.39% throughout the 1990s, 1.02% during the 2000s, 0.18% throughout the 2010s, 1.95% thus far this decade (2020-2022).

Figure 7 compares the decade average growth rates for Butte County noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for South Dakota and the nation. As the chart reveals, Butte County's average annual population growth registered above South Dakota's average in the 1970s (0.73% vs. 0.31%), fell below South Dakota's average in the 1980s (-0.64% vs. 0.11%), outpaced South Dakota's average in the 1990s (1.39% vs. 0.75%), outgained South Dakota's average during the 2000s (1.02% vs. 0.73%), posted below South Dakota's average during the 2010s (0.18% vs. 0.90%), and outpaced South Dakota's average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (1.95% vs. 1.02%).

Finally, relative to nationwide population growth trends, Butte County posted below the nation over the 1970s (0.73% vs. 1.10%), recorded underneath the nation throughout the 1980s (-0.64% vs. 0.95%), led the nation throughout the 1990s (1.39% vs. 1.23%), outpaced the nation during the 2000s (1.02% vs. 0.95%), trailed the nation in the 2010s (0.18% vs. 0.74%), and registered above the nation over 2020-2022 (1.95% vs. 0.31%).