Tolland County vs. Connecticut Comparative Trends Analysis: Population Growth and Change, 1969-2022 Introduction Tolland County: 2022 Population = 156,405 2022 Percent of State = 4.31% Connecticut: 2022 Population = 3,626,205 2022 Percent of U.S. = 1.09% 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 Tolland County with comparisons to Connecticut and the nation at large. This analysis features alternative approaches toward discussing, diagnosing and comparing Tolland County vs. Connecticut'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 Tolland County's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Tolland County's population rose from 100,439 in 1969 to 156,405 in 2022, for a net gain of 55,966, or 55.72%. 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 Connecticut's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Connecticut's population rose from 3,000,000 in 1969 to 3,626,205 in 2022, for a net gain of 626,205, or 20.87%. 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 Tolland County's population growth in a broader context by offering direct comparisons across time with Connecticut, 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. Tolland County's overall population growth was 55.72% over 1969-2022 outpaced Connecticut's increase of 20.87%, and fell below the United States' increase of 65.57%. Population as a Percent of the Connecticut Total: 1969-2022 Figure 4. Another interesting and insightful way of contrasting the population growth of Tolland County is to compare its individual percentage contributions to Connecticut's statewide population over time, as shown in Figure 4. A rising share means a region's population grew faster, or declined less, than Connecticut's population, while a declining share shows it grew more slowly. In 1969, Tolland County's population totaled 3.35% of Connecticut's population, while in 2022 it comprised 4.31% thereby yielding a +0.97% share-shift.
Tolland County Population: Annual Percent Change, 1970-2022 Figure 5. Figure 5 shows the short-run pattern of Tolland 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, Tolland County's population grew at an annual rate of 0.85% over 1970-2022. The county recorded its highest growth in 1972 (4.37%) and posted its lowest growth in 1977 (-1.58%). In 2022, Tolland County's population grew by 0.28% Tolland 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 Tolland 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, Tolland County's annual population growth rate averaged 1.33%. It averaged 1.12% throughout the 1980s, 0.54% throughout the 1990s, 1.22% throughout the 2000s, -0.15% during the 2010s, 1.40% 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 Tolland County noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for Connecticut and the nation. As the chart reveals, Tolland County's average annual population growth outgained Connecticut's average during the 1970s (1.33% vs. 0.33%), surpassed Connecticut's average during the 1980s (1.12% vs. 0.58%), surpassed Connecticut's average in the 1990s (0.54% vs. 0.31%), outpaced Connecticut's average in the 2000s (1.22% vs. 0.51%), trailed Connecticut's average throughout the 2010s (-0.15% vs. 0.13%), and topped Connecticut's average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (1.40% vs. 0.18%). Finally, relative to nationwide population growth trends, Tolland County outgained the nation during the 1970s (1.33% vs. 1.10%), registered above the nation during the 1980s (1.12% vs. 0.95%), recorded underneath the nation during the 1990s (0.54% vs. 1.23%), outperformed the nation over the 2000s (1.22% vs. 0.95%), recorded underneath the nation in the 2010s (-0.15% vs. 0.74%), and outperformed the nation over 2020-2022 (1.40% vs. 0.31%).
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