Indiana population trends

I've always been a closet stats junkie. There's something interesting about numbers to me. Anyways, this article from the Indianapolis Star (21 March 2008), details population trends in Hoosierland. Not surprisingly, Hamilton county (Carmel, Fishers) had the highest population growth and southwestern Indiana (where my parents live) has the highest death rate. The county they live in was explicitly called out for something I've known for a long time: new residents and young people are not moving to these counties.



Hamilton County -- once again -- is the fastest-growing county in Indiana and the 23rd fastest-growing in the nation.

The state's five fastest-growing counties (the others are Hendricks, Hancock, Johnson and Boone, in that order) accounted for 64 percent of Indiana's total population growth from 2000 to 2007. Each county had more births than deaths in seven years, and together added more than 149,000 residents, said Matt Kinghorn, economic research analyst at Indiana Business Research Center, Bloomington.

A look at the gains and losses across the state and metro area:

Also of note in Indiana

Baby booms: Average birth rates in LaGrange, Adams and Elkhart counties were the highest among Indiana's 92 counties, topping 17 births per 1,000 residents between 2000 and 2007.

Researchers say those counties are home to much of the state's Amish population, which tends to have larger families.

Highest death rates: Three of the top five Indiana counties with the highest average death rates span the state's western border -- Vermillion, Knox and Sullivan.

Vermillion was tops, averaging 13.6 deaths per 1,000 residents between 2000 and 2007. Knox and Sullivan counties ranked fourth and fifth, following Fayette and Henry counties.

The western-tier counties had few newer, younger residents moving in and ranked among the highest in overall median age during the period.

Immigrant magnets: Tippecanoe and Monroe counties, home to two of Indiana's major university campuses, ranked among the top 5 counties in the state in the average rate of international migration -- people moving in from outside the U.S.

Tippecanoe County ranked first, averaging nearly six international migrants per 1,000 residents since 2000. Monroe County ranked fourth, with a 3.6 per 1,000 average. Rounding out the top five: Clinton, Elkhart and Noble counties, three areas where large industries may be magnets for foreign residents, researchers say.

The national picture

Seventy of the nation's fastest-growing counties from July 2006 to July 2007 were in the South, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Thursday.

Just eight of the fastest-growing counties were in the Midwest (including Hamilton County); 22 were in the West.

Fastest grower: Arizona's Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, added the most people in that period -- 102,000, bringing its population to nearly 3.9 million.

Most populous: Los Angeles County held on to that title, with 9.9 million people, though its population dropped 2,000 over the year.

--- Star and news service report