Oconee County vs. Georgia Comparative Trends Analysis: Population Growth and Change, 1969-2022 Introduction Oconee County: 2022 Population = 43,588 2022 Percent of State = 0.40% Georgia: 2022 Population = 10,912,876 2022 Percent of U.S. = 3.27% 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 Oconee County with comparisons to Georgia and the nation at large. This analysis features alternative approaches toward discussing, diagnosing and comparing Oconee County vs. Georgia'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 Oconee County's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Oconee County's population rose from 7,848 in 1969 to 43,588 in 2022, for a net gain of 35,740, or 455.40%. 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 Georgia's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Georgia's population rose from 4,551,000 in 1969 to 10,912,876 in 2022, for a net gain of 6,361,876, or 139.79%. 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 shows Oconee County's population growth in a broader context by offering direct comparisons across time with Georgia, 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. Oconee County's overall population growth was 455.40% over 1969-2022 outpaced Georgia's increase of 139.79%, and outpaced the United States' increase of 65.57%. Population as a Percent of the Georgia Total: 1969-2022 Figure 4. Another interesting and insightful way of contrasting the population growth of Oconee County is to trace its individual percentage contributions to Georgia's statewide population over time, as shown in Figure 4. A rising share means a region's population grew faster, or declined less, than Georgia's population, while a declining share shows it grew more slowly. In 1969, Oconee County's population totaled 0.17% of Georgia's population, while in 2022 it totaled 0.40% thereby yielding a +0.23% share-shift.
Oconee County Population: Annual Percent Change, 1970-2022 Figure 5. Figure 5 shows the short-run pattern of Oconee 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, Oconee County's population grew at an annual rate of 3.30% over 1970-2022. The county recorded its highest growth in 1972 (7.05%) and posted its lowest growth in 2000 (0.92%). In 2022, Oconee County's population grew by 1.31% Oconee 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 Oconee 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, Oconee County's annual population growth rate averaged 4.33%. It averaged 3.60% during the 1980s, 4.17% in the 1990s, 2.37% during the 2000s, 2.41% during the 2010s, 1.99% 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 Oconee County noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for Georgia and the nation. As the chart reveals, Oconee County's average annual population growth exceeded Georgia's average during the 1970s (4.33% vs. 1.71%), outgained Georgia's average throughout the 1980s (3.60% vs. 1.75%), outgained Georgia's average throughout the 1990s (4.17% vs. 2.30%), topped Georgia's average during the 2000s (2.37% vs. 1.80%), registered above Georgia's average during the 2010s (2.41% vs. 1.01%), and led Georgia's average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (1.99% vs. 0.84%). Finally, relative to nationwide population growth trends, Oconee County outpaced the nation in the 1970s (4.33% vs. 1.10%), topped the nation in the 1980s (3.60% vs. 0.95%), outpaced the nation during the 1990s (4.17% vs. 1.23%), led the nation in the 2000s (2.37% vs. 0.95%), registered above the nation during the 2010s (2.41% vs. 0.74%), and outpaced the nation over 2020-2022 (1.99% vs. 0.31%).
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