Floyd County vs. Kentucky Comparative Trends Analysis: Population Growth and Change, 1969-2022 Introduction Floyd County: 2022 Population = 34,978 2022 Percent of State = 0.78% Kentucky: 2022 Population = 4,512,310 2022 Percent of U.S. = 1.35% 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 Floyd County with comparisons to Kentucky and the nation at large. This analysis features alternative approaches toward discussing, diagnosing and comparing Floyd County vs. Kentucky'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 Floyd County's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Floyd County's population dropped from 36,404 in 1969 to 34,978 in 2022, for a net loss of -1,426, or -3.92%. 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 tracks Kentucky's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Kentucky's population rose from 3,198,000 in 1969 to 4,512,310 in 2022, for a net gain of 1,314,310, or 41.10%. 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 Floyd County's population growth in a broader context by offering direct comparisons across time with Kentucky, 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. Floyd County's overall population growth was -3.92% over 1969-2022 trailed Kentucky's increase of 41.10%, and fell below the United States' increase of 65.57%. Population as a Percent of the Kentucky Total: 1969-2022 Figure 4. Another interesting and insightful way of highlighting the population growth of Floyd County is to trace its individual percentage contributions to Kentucky's statewide population over time, as shown in Figure 4. A rising share means a region's population grew faster, or declined less, than Kentucky's population, while a declining share shows it grew more slowly. In 1969, Floyd County's population totaled 1.14% of Kentucky's population, while in 2022 it totaled 0.78% thereby yielding a -0.36% share-shift.
Figure 5. Figure 5 highlights the short-run pattern of Floyd 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, Floyd County's population contracted at an annual rate of -0.06% over 1970-2022. The county recorded its highest growth in 1976 (5.93%) and posted its lowest growth in 1989 (-2.51%). In 2022, Floyd County's population declined by -0.91% Floyd County Population: Annual Percent Change and Decade Averages Over 1970-2022 Figure 6. 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 Floyd County'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, Floyd County's annual population growth rate averaged 2.92%. It averaged -0.92% in the 1980s, -0.34% throughout the 1990s, -0.72% during the 2000s, -0.89% throughout the 2010s, -1.18% 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 Floyd County noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for Kentucky and the nation. As the chart reveals, Floyd County's average annual population growth topped Kentucky's average in the 1970s (2.92% vs. 1.31%), trailed Kentucky's average during the 1980s (-0.92% vs. 0.09%), lagged Kentucky's average throughout the 1990s (-0.34% vs. 0.89%), posted below Kentucky's average in the 2000s (-0.72% vs. 0.72%), trailed Kentucky's average in the 2010s (-0.89% vs. 0.41%), and amounted to less than Kentucky's average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (-1.18% vs. 0.10%). Finally, relative to nationwide population growth trends, Floyd County recorded above the nation in the 1970s (2.92% vs. 1.10%), recorded underneath the nation in the 1980s (-0.92% vs. 0.95%), trailed the nation throughout the 1990s (-0.34% vs. 1.23%), lagged the nation during the 2000s (-0.72% vs. 0.95%), fell under the nation in the 2010s (-0.89% vs. 0.74%), and fell under the nation over 2020-2022 (-1.18% vs. 0.31%).
| Analysis Options Menu |