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 Douglas County with comparisons to Nevada and the nation at large. This analysis features alternative approaches toward discussing, diagnosing and comparing Douglas County vs. Nevada'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.

Figure 1 tracks Douglas County's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Douglas County's population rose from 6,674 in 1969 to 49,628 in 2022, for a net gain of 42,954, or 643.60%.

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.

Figure 2 tracks Nevada's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Nevada's population rose from 480,000 in 1969 to 3,177,772 in 2022, for a net gain of 2,697,772, or 562.04%.

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.

Figure 3 portrays Douglas County's population growth in a broader context by offering direct comparisons across time with Nevada, 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.

Douglas County's overall population growth was 643.60% over 1969-2022 outpaced Nevada's increase of 562.04%, and outpaced the United States' increase of 65.57%.

Another interesting and insightful way of comparing the population growth of Douglas County is to compare its individual percentage contributions to Nevada's statewide population over time, as shown in Figure 4. A rising share means a region's population grew faster, or declined less, than Nevada's population, while a declining share shows it grew more slowly.

In 1969, Douglas County's population totaled 1.39% of Nevada's population, while in 2022 it totaled 1.56% thereby yielding a +0.17% share-shift.

Figure 5 highlights the short-run pattern of Douglas 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, Douglas County's population grew at an annual rate of 3.93% over 1970-2022. The county posted its highest growth in 1973 (15.29%) and posted its lowest growth in 2022 (-0.68%). In 2022, Douglas County's population declined by -0.68%

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 Douglas 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, Douglas County's annual population growth rate averaged 10.71%. It averaged 3.77% in the 1980s, 4.30% in the 1990s, 1.51% during the 2000s, 0.49% during the 2010s, 0.20% thus far this decade (2020-2022).

Figure 7 compares the decade average growth rates for Douglas County noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for Nevada and the nation. As the chart reveals, Douglas County's average annual population growth registered above Nevada's average during the 1970s (10.71% vs. 4.78%), amounted to less than Nevada's average throughout the 1980s (3.77% vs. 4.05%), posted below Nevada's average during the 1990s (4.30% vs. 5.46%), posted below Nevada's average during the 2000s (1.51% vs. 3.33%), lagged Nevada's average during the 2010s (0.49% vs. 1.35%), and recorded under Nevada's average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (0.20% vs. 1.17%).

Finally, relative to nationwide population growth trends, Douglas County outpaced the nation during the 1970s (10.71% vs. 1.10%), outpaced the nation throughout the 1980s (3.77% vs. 0.95%), surpassed the nation throughout the 1990s (4.30% vs. 1.23%), topped the nation over the 2000s (1.51% vs. 0.95%), trailed the nation during the 2010s (0.49% vs. 0.74%), and lagged the nation over 2020-2022 (0.20% vs. 0.31%).