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 McCook County with comparisons to South Dakota and the nation at large. This analysis features alternative approaches toward discussing, diagnosing and comparing McCook 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 McCook County's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, McCook County's population dropped from 7,322 in 1969 to 5,778 in 2022, for a net loss of -1,544, or -21.09%.

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 portrays McCook 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.

McCook County's overall population growth was -21.09% 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 McCook 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, McCook County's population comprised 1.10% of South Dakota's population, while in 2022 it totaled 0.64% thereby yielding a -0.46% share-shift.

Figure 5 highlights the short-run pattern of McCook 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, McCook County's population contracted at an annual rate of -0.43% over 1970-2022. The county recorded its highest growth in 1971 (3.65%) and posted its lowest growth in 1972 (-7.07%). In 2022, McCook County's population grew by 0.96%

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 McCook 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, McCook County's annual population growth rate averaged -1.12%. It averaged -1.33% throughout the 1980s, 0.11% in the 1990s, -0.30% throughout the 2000s, 0.18% in the 2010s, 0.50% thus far this decade (2020-2022).

Figure 7 compares the decade average growth rates for McCook County noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for South Dakota and the nation. As the chart reveals, McCook County's average annual population growth posted below South Dakota's average in the 1970s (-1.12% vs. 0.31%), trailed South Dakota's average during the 1980s (-1.33% vs. 0.11%), amounted to less than South Dakota's average throughout the 1990s (0.11% vs. 0.75%), recorded under South Dakota's average in the 2000s (-0.30% vs. 0.73%), lagged South Dakota's average during the 2010s (0.18% vs. 0.90%), and fell below South Dakota's average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (0.50% vs. 1.02%).

Finally, relative to nationwide population growth trends, McCook County recorded underneath the nation over the 1970s (-1.12% vs. 1.10%), lagged the nation in the 1980s (-1.33% vs. 0.95%), posted below the nation throughout the 1990s (0.11% vs. 1.23%), trailed the nation over the 2000s (-0.30% vs. 0.95%), posted below the nation throughout the 2010s (0.18% vs. 0.74%), and outgained the nation over 2020-2022 (0.50% vs. 0.31%).