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 Douglas County with comparisons to South Dakota and the nation at large. This analysis features alternative approaches toward discussing, diagnosing and comparing Douglas 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 traces Douglas County's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Douglas County's population dropped from 4,560 in 1969 to 2,776 in 2022, for a net loss of -1,784, or -39.12%.

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 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 portrays Douglas 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.

Douglas County's overall population growth was -39.12% over 1969-2022 trailed 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 Douglas County is to trace 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, Douglas County's population comprised 0.68% of South Dakota's population, while in 2022 it comprised 0.31% thereby yielding a -0.38% share-shift.

Figure 5 displays the short-run pattern of Douglas 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, Douglas County's population contracted at an annual rate of -0.93% over 1970-2022. The county posted its highest growth in 1977 (1.05%) and posted its lowest growth in 2006 (-3.42%). In 2022, Douglas County's population declined by -1.17%

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 Douglas 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, Douglas County's annual population growth rate averaged -0.63%. It averaged -1.16% during the 1980s, -0.73% during the 1990s, -1.57% throughout the 2000s, -0.60% throughout the 2010s, -0.74% thus far this decade (2020-2022).

Figure 7 compares the decade average growth rates for Douglas County noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for South Dakota and the nation. As the chart reveals, Douglas County's average annual population growth fell below South Dakota's average throughout the 1970s (-0.63% vs. 0.31%), fell below South Dakota's average during the 1980s (-1.16% vs. 0.11%), posted below South Dakota's average throughout the 1990s (-0.73% vs. 0.75%), fell below South Dakota's average in the 2000s (-1.57% vs. 0.73%), lagged South Dakota's average during the 2010s (-0.60% vs. 0.90%), and amounted to less than South Dakota's average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (-0.74% vs. 1.02%).

Finally, relative to nationwide population growth trends, Douglas County fell under the nation during the 1970s (-0.63% vs. 1.10%), fell under the nation over the 1980s (-1.16% vs. 0.95%), lagged the nation during the 1990s (-0.73% vs. 1.23%), fell below the nation throughout the 2000s (-1.57% vs. 0.95%), recorded underneath the nation throughout the 2010s (-0.60% vs. 0.74%), and recorded underneath the nation over 2020-2022 (-0.74% vs. 0.31%).