Yavapai County vs. Arizona Comparative Trends Analysis: Population Growth and Change, 1969-2022 Introduction Yavapai County: 2022 Population = 246,191 2022 Percent of State = 3.35% Arizona: 2022 Population = 7,359,197 2022 Percent of U.S. = 2.21% 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 Yavapai County with comparisons to Arizona and the nation at large. This analysis features alternative approaches toward discussing, diagnosing and comparing Yavapai County vs. Arizona'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 Yavapai County's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Yavapai County's population rose from 35,800 in 1969 to 246,191 in 2022, for a net gain of 210,391, or 587.68%. 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 traces Arizona's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Arizona's population rose from 1,737,000 in 1969 to 7,359,197 in 2022, for a net gain of 5,622,197, or 323.67%. 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 Yavapai County's population growth in a broader context by offering direct comparisons across time with Arizona, 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. Yavapai County's overall population growth was 587.68% over 1969-2022 outpaced Arizona's increase of 323.67%, and topped the United States' increase of 65.57%. Population as a Percent of the Arizona Total: 1969-2022 Figure 4. Another interesting and insightful way of highlighting the population growth of Yavapai County is to trace its individual percentage contributions to Arizona's statewide population over time, as shown in Figure 4. A rising share means a region's population grew faster, or declined less, than Arizona's population, while a declining share shows it grew more slowly. In 1969, Yavapai County's population comprised 2.06% of Arizona's population, while in 2022 it comprised 3.35% thereby yielding a +1.28% share-shift.
Yavapai County Population: Annual Percent Change, 1970-2022 Figure 5. Figure 5 highlights the short-run pattern of Yavapai 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, Yavapai County's population grew at an annual rate of 3.73% over 1970-2022. The county posted its highest growth in 1976 (11.06%) and recorded its lowest growth in 2010 (-0.12%). In 2022, Yavapai County's population grew by 1.65% Yavapai 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 traces the annual percent change in Yavapai 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, Yavapai County's annual population growth rate averaged 6.33%. It averaged 4.65% in the 1980s, 4.63% during the 1990s, 2.63% during the 2000s, 0.99% throughout the 2010s, 1.84% 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 Yavapai County noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for Arizona and the nation. As the chart reveals, Yavapai County's average annual population growth recorded above Arizona's average during the 1970s (6.33% vs. 4.28%), surpassed Arizona's average throughout the 1980s (4.65% vs. 3.22%), recorded above Arizona's average during the 1990s (4.63% vs. 3.33%), led Arizona's average throughout the 2000s (2.63% vs. 2.36%), recorded under Arizona's average during the 2010s (0.99% vs. 1.09%), and topped Arizona's average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (1.84% vs. 1.34%). Finally, relative to nationwide population growth trends, Yavapai County registered above the nation during the 1970s (6.33% vs. 1.10%), registered above the nation over the 1980s (4.65% vs. 0.95%), outgained the nation in the 1990s (4.63% vs. 1.23%), registered above the nation throughout the 2000s (2.63% vs. 0.95%), registered above the nation in the 2010s (0.99% vs. 0.74%), and surpassed the nation over 2020-2022 (1.84% vs. 0.31%).
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