Sullivan County vs. New Hampshire Comparative Trends Analysis: Population Growth and Change, 1969-2022 Introduction Sullivan County: 2022 Population = 43,958 2022 Percent of State = 3.15% New Hampshire: 2022 Population = 1,395,231 2022 Percent of U.S. = 0.42% 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 Sullivan County with comparisons to New Hampshire and the nation at large. This analysis features alternative approaches toward discussing, diagnosing and comparing Sullivan County vs. New Hampshire'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 Sullivan County's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Sullivan County's population rose from 30,669 in 1969 to 43,958 in 2022, for a net gain of 13,289, or 43.33%. 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 New Hampshire's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, New Hampshire's population rose from 724,000 in 1969 to 1,395,231 in 2022, for a net gain of 671,231, or 92.71%. 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 Sullivan County's population growth in a broader context by offering direct comparisons across time with New Hampshire, 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. Sullivan County's overall population growth was 43.33% over 1969-2022 trailed New Hampshire's increase of 92.71%, and fell below the United States' increase of 65.57%. Population as a Percent of the New Hampshire Total: 1969-2022 Figure 4. Another interesting and insightful way of contrasting the population growth of Sullivan County is to trace its individual percentage contributions to New Hampshire's statewide population over time, as shown in Figure 4. A rising share means a region's population grew faster, or declined less, than New Hampshire's population, while a declining share shows it grew more slowly. In 1969, Sullivan County's population totaled 4.24% of New Hampshire's population, while in 2022 it equated to 3.15% thereby yielding a -1.09% share-shift.
Sullivan County Population: Annual Percent Change, 1970-2022 Figure 5. Figure 5 displays the short-run pattern of Sullivan 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, Sullivan County's population grew at an annual rate of 0.68% over 1970-2022. The county posted its highest growth in 1973 (2.54%) and posted its lowest growth in 1992 (-0.73%). In 2022, Sullivan County's population grew by 0.76% Sullivan 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 shows the annual percent change in Sullivan 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, Sullivan County's annual population growth rate averaged 1.46%. It averaged 0.86% during the 1980s, 0.39% in the 1990s, 0.87% in the 2000s, -0.15% in the 2010s, 0.68% 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 Sullivan County noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for New Hampshire and the nation. As the chart reveals, Sullivan County's average annual population growth lagged New Hampshire's average during the 1970s (1.46% vs. 2.33%), amounted to less than New Hampshire's average in the 1980s (0.86% vs. 1.94%), recorded under New Hampshire's average in the 1990s (0.39% vs. 1.02%), outpaced New Hampshire's average throughout the 2000s (0.87% vs. 0.75%), recorded under New Hampshire's average in the 2010s (-0.15% vs. 0.42%), and registered above New Hampshire's average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (0.68% vs. 0.57%). Finally, relative to nationwide population growth trends, Sullivan County recorded above the nation throughout the 1970s (1.46% vs. 1.10%), lagged the nation in the 1980s (0.86% vs. 0.95%), recorded underneath the nation over the 1990s (0.39% vs. 1.23%), fell under the nation throughout the 2000s (0.87% vs. 0.95%), fell below the nation over the 2010s (-0.15% vs. 0.74%), and led the nation over 2020-2022 (0.68% vs. 0.31%).
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