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 Harper County with comparisons to Kansas and the nation at large. This analysis features alternative approaches toward discussing, diagnosing and comparing Harper County vs. Kansas' 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 Harper County's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Harper County's population dropped from 8,001 in 1969 to 5,323 in 2022, for a net loss of -2,678, or -33.47%.

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 Kansas' annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Kansas' population rose from 2,236,000 in 1969 to 2,937,150 in 2022, for a net gain of 701,150, or 31.36%.

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 Harper County's population growth in a broader context by offering direct comparisons across time with Kansas, 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.

Harper County's overall population growth was -33.47% over 1969-2022 trailed Kansas' increase of 31.36%, and fell below the United States' increase of 65.57%.

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

In 1969, Harper County's population totaled 0.36% of Kansas' population, while in 2022 it totaled 0.18% thereby yielding a -0.18% share-shift.

Figure 5 displays the short-run pattern of Harper 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 illustrated 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, Harper County's population contracted at an annual rate of -0.76% over 1970-2022. The county recorded its highest growth in 1973 (3.85%) and recorded its lowest growth in 1971 (-3.27%). In 2022, Harper County's population declined by -0.11%

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 Harper 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, Harper County's annual population growth rate averaged -0.40%. It averaged -0.54% during the 1980s, -0.96% during the 1990s, -0.89% during the 2000s, -0.80% throughout the 2010s, -1.43% thus far this decade (2020-2022).

Figure 7 compares the decade average growth rates for Harper County noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for Kansas and the nation. As the chart reveals, Harper County's average annual population growth posted below Kansas' average during the 1970s (-0.40% vs. 0.49%), amounted to less than Kansas' average in the 1980s (-0.54% vs. 0.52%), amounted to less than Kansas' average during the 1990s (-0.96% vs. 0.80%), recorded under Kansas' average throughout the 2000s (-0.89% vs. 0.56%), fell below Kansas' average in the 2010s (-0.80% vs. 0.35%), and amounted to less than Kansas' average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (-1.43% vs. 0.04%).

Finally, relative to nationwide population growth trends, Harper County lagged the nation during the 1970s (-0.40% vs. 1.10%), fell under the nation during the 1980s (-0.54% vs. 0.95%), fell under the nation during the 1990s (-0.96% vs. 1.23%), recorded underneath the nation throughout the 2000s (-0.89% vs. 0.95%), posted below the nation over the 2010s (-0.80% vs. 0.74%), and posted below the nation over 2020-2022 (-1.43% vs. 0.31%).