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 Jackson County with comparisons to South Dakota and the nation at large. This analysis features alternative approaches toward discussing, diagnosing and comparing Jackson 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 Jackson County's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Jackson County's population dropped from 2,950 in 1969 to 2,821 in 2022, for a net loss of -129, or -4.37%.

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 Jackson 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.

Jackson County's overall population growth was -4.37% 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 contrasting the population growth of Jackson 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, Jackson County's population comprised 0.44% of South Dakota's population, while in 2022 it totaled 0.31% thereby yielding a -0.13% share-shift.

Figure 5 shows the short-run pattern of Jackson 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, Jackson County's population contracted at an annual rate of -0.03% over 1970-2022. The county posted its highest growth in 1972 (19.89%) and posted its lowest growth in 1971 (-5.61%). In 2022, Jackson County's population declined by -0.88%

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 Jackson 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, Jackson County's annual population growth rate averaged 1.60%. It averaged -1.53% during the 1980s, 0.02% throughout the 1990s, 0.28% in the 2000s, -0.37% during the 2010s, -0.56% thus far this decade (2020-2022).

Figure 7 compares the decade average growth rates for Jackson County noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for South Dakota and the nation. As the chart reveals, Jackson County's average annual population growth outpaced South Dakota's average in the 1970s (1.60% vs. 0.31%), posted below South Dakota's average during the 1980s (-1.53% vs. 0.11%), lagged South Dakota's average in the 1990s (0.02% vs. 0.75%), trailed South Dakota's average in the 2000s (0.28% vs. 0.73%), amounted to less than South Dakota's average during the 2010s (-0.37% vs. 0.90%), and trailed South Dakota's average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (-0.56% vs. 1.02%).

Finally, relative to nationwide population growth trends, Jackson County recorded above the nation in the 1970s (1.60% vs. 1.10%), fell below the nation over the 1980s (-1.53% vs. 0.95%), trailed the nation throughout the 1990s (0.02% vs. 1.23%), fell below the nation throughout the 2000s (0.28% vs. 0.95%), trailed the nation over the 2010s (-0.37% vs. 0.74%), and fell below the nation over 2020-2022 (-0.56% vs. 0.31%).