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 Lincoln County with comparisons to Nevada and the nation at large. This analysis features alternative approaches toward discussing, diagnosing and comparing Lincoln 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 traces Lincoln County's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Lincoln County's population rose from 2,554 in 1969 to 4,440 in 2022, for a net gain of 1,886, or 73.84%.

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 3,177,421 in 2022, for a net gain of 2,697,421, or 561.96%.

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 shows Lincoln 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.

Lincoln County's overall population growth was 73.84% over 1969-2022 trailed Nevada's increase of 561.96%, and outpaced the United States' increase of 65.56%.

Another interesting and insightful way of contrasting the population growth of Lincoln County is to trace 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, Lincoln County's population comprised 0.53% of Nevada's population, while in 2022 it equated to 0.14% thereby yielding a -0.39% share-shift.

Figure 5 displays the short-run pattern of Lincoln 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, Lincoln County's population grew at an annual rate of 1.10% over 1970-2022. The county recorded its highest growth in 1978 (14.24%) and posted its lowest growth in 1971 (-4.99%). In 2022, Lincoln County's population grew by 1.09%

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 illustrates the annual percent change in Lincoln 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, Lincoln County's annual population growth rate averaged 3.68%. It averaged 0.12% in the 1980s, 1.24% in the 1990s, 2.46% during the 2000s, -1.34% in the 2010s, -1.01% thus far this decade (2020-2022).

Figure 7 compares the decade average growth rates for Lincoln County noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for Nevada and the nation. As the chart reveals, Lincoln County's average annual population growth amounted to less than Nevada's average in the 1970s (3.68% vs. 4.78%), recorded under Nevada's average in the 1980s (0.12% vs. 4.05%), recorded under Nevada's average during the 1990s (1.24% vs. 5.46%), posted below Nevada's average throughout the 2000s (2.46% vs. 3.33%), fell below Nevada's average during the 2010s (-1.34% vs. 1.35%), and posted below Nevada's average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (-1.01% vs. 1.16%).

Finally, relative to nationwide population growth trends, Lincoln County outgained the nation throughout the 1970s (3.68% vs. 1.10%), posted below the nation during the 1980s (0.12% vs. 0.95%), surpassed the nation in the 1990s (1.24% vs. 1.23%), outperformed the nation over the 2000s (2.46% vs. 0.95%), trailed the nation during the 2010s (-1.34% vs. 0.74%), and fell under the nation over 2020-2022 (-1.01% vs. 0.31%).