| County Populations, 1970-2020, US, Indiana and Hamilton |
| The US population has increased by 64% in the last 50 years, from 202 to 330 million. |
| Indiana has grown by half as much (30%), while Hamilton County has increased five-fold (527%). |
| US growth was in the 10% range for the first 4 decades, but has slowed to just 7%. |
| Indiana has grown by only 5% per decade, with a strong 1990’s offsetting a weak 1980’s. |
| The US has added roughly 25 million net residents in each decade. |
| Indiana has grown by 300,000 residents per decade, on average. |
| Hamilton County added 25,000 people in each of the first 2 decades and 75,000 in each of the last 3. |
| Indiana has declined from 2.6% to 2.0% of the country’s population, from 1 of 39 people to 1 of 49.’ |
| Hamilton County’s % of the US population has nearly quadrupled, reaching 0.1%, or 1 in 1,000 of US residents. |
| Half of the U.S. lives in just 144 of 3,143 counties. |
| The US has a staggering 3,143 counties. |
| An ABC (pareto) analysis shows relative stability of the population distribution across the decades. |
| Just 60 counties (2%) account for one-third of the population in each decade. |
| One-half (50%) of the population lives in just 144 total counties (5%). |
| 70% of the people live in just under 400 counties (12.5% or 1 in 8). |
| 80% live in 22% of the counties (the classic Pareto 80/20 rule). 680 counties, on average. |
| The 70% and 80% groups have seen a somewhat tighter clustering of counties through time. |
| 90% of the people live in 40% of the counties. |
| The last 10% of people live in the complementary 1,900 counties (on average). |
| The number of counties in the last 10% has grown from 1,820 to 2,011 in 2020 and an estimated 2,071 in 2030. |
| So, in general, the top half of population remains grouped in just 144 counties. |
| The 50th-90th percentile is more concentrated in 1,100 versus 1,300 counties. |
| The final 10% is more spread out across an extra 200-300 counties worth of space. |
| 7 largest counties contain as many people as the bottom 2,021 (33 million). |
| As the country’s population has grown by 64%, the minimum county population size required to belong to |
| each tier (33%, 50%) has grown similarly. The smallest county in those comprising 33% of the population |
| has increased by 46% from 626K to 914K in 2020. |
| The 70th percent group minimum has more than doubled from 89K to 182K. |
| The 80th and 90th percentile groups have similarly increased, from 48K to 99K and 23K to 42K, respectively. |
| This is another way to show that smaller counties with populations of 50K or less are even further |
| removed from the relatively small number of counties (610, 22%) that hold 80% of the total population, |
| with a minimum 99K population in 2020. |
| The 2,011 smallest counties in 2020 have a total population of 33M, averaging 16,000 residents. |
| The 143 counties that account for half of the population (5X), average 1.15M people each, or 70X as dense. |
| The 7 largest counties hold 33M people, the same as the 2,021 lowest population ones. |
| Twice as many counties with 1 million people since 1970. |
| This increased population density can be seen in actual population figures as well. |
| The country had 22 counties with 1M people in 1970. 24 cities have reached this milestone in the last 50 years. |
| These are mainly the primary counties of metropolitan areas, but some are large suburbs (Oakland, MI; |
| Collin, TX; Fairfax and Montgomery, DC; San Bernardino and Riverside, CA). |
| The growth can be seen at the 250K and 500K levels, with a total of 277 counties now holding 250K+ residents. |
| There are a few more counties in the 25K and 50K tiers, but the sub-25K group has 361 fewer counties in 2020. |
| Indiana county populations have been relatively static. |
| With it’s relatively slower population growth, Indiana has seen only moderate growth in its county profile. |
| Indiana had 23 counties with 50K+ residents in 1970, and a few more (27) in 2020. |
| Marion County is the largest, above 500K since 1970, reaching 970K in 2020. |
| Lake County exceeded 500K in 1970, but slipped below that level in 1983. |
| Allen County has exceeded 250K residents throughout this time, reaching 485K in 2020. |
| St. Joseph County reached 250K in 1992 and 272K in 2020. |
| 7 Indiana counties exceeded 100K in 1970 and remain at that tier: Elkhart, Tippecanoe, Vanderburgh, |
| Madison, Delaware, LaPorte and Vigo. |
| 5 counties reached the 100K level after 1970: Porter (76), Monroe (81), Johnson (95), Hendricks (00), Clark (04). |
| Hamilton County passed 100K in 1988 and 250K in 2006, holding 345K residents in 2020. |
| Indiana added 1.6M residents, but 30% growth is only half the national average. |
| Indiana grew by 1.6M residents across these 50 years; 30%. Less than one-half of the national growth rate. |
| The growth is very different across the 92 counties. |
| 5 counties gained 99,000 residents or more. This totaled 788K. The 63% matches the country’s growth. |
| 9 counties gained 30-98K residents, adding 511K residents. The 82% growth rate exceeds the nations. |
| These 14 counties combined added 1.3M residents, with a growth rate of 69%. |
| Unfortunately, these counties were responsible for 83% of the total Indiana population growth in 50 years. |
| The other 78 counties, with 3.3M residents in 1970, recorded 3.6M people in 2020, for just 8% growth. |
| Hamilton County is the fastest growing Indiana county, adding 290,000 residents since 1970. |
| Hamilton County has been the fastest growing county in Indiana across the last 50 years. |
| It added 290,000 residents from a base of just 54,000; barely in the top one-fourth of Indiana counties in 1970. |
| During these 5 decades, Marion, Hendricks, Allen and Johnson counties added 178, 119, 102 and 99K residents. |
| Hamilton County added 25,000 residents in both of the first 2 decades and 75,000 in each of the last 3 decades. |
| Hamilton was the 21st largest of 92 Indiana counties in 1970. |
| It quickly passed 5 of its counterparts in each of the next 3 decades, reaching 6th place in 1999. |
| Passing Floyd, Bartholomew, Johnson, Wayne and Grant counties as it reached 82K by 1980. |
| Passing Howard, Clark, Vigo, LaPorte and Monroe counties as it reached 110K by 1990. |
| Passing Delaware, Madison, Tippecanoe, Porter and Vanderburgh counties as it reached 172K by 1999. |
| Hamilton County passed Elkhart County in 2000 and St. Joseph County in 2008. |
| Hamilton County will pass Allen County for 3rd place in 2026-2029 at 400K. |
| Hamilton County will pass Lake County for 2nd place in 2037-39 at 463K. |
| Hamilton County is in the top 300 U.S. counties by population. |
| Hamilton County has quickly risen in the overall US county rankings, from 621st in 1970 (20th percent) |
| to 296th in 2000 (10th percent) to 209th in 2020 (7th percent). |
| The competition is greater at the top, but 7K annual population growth is likely to continue for the next 20 years |
| leading to 415K in 2030 and 486K in 2040, and ranks of 195th and 174th. |
| From 1990 to 2020, Hamilton County grew from 110K to 345K; 213%. |
| It was the 69th fastest growing county in these 30 years, in the top 2% of all 3,100 counties. |
| 79 counties grew by 2/3rds (156K) to 3/halfs (352K) of this 235K (213%) in this 30 year period. |
| These were mostly high performing counties, averaging 100% growth during the period. |
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