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 Athens County with comparisons to Ohio and the nation at large. This analysis features alternative approaches toward discussing, diagnosing and comparing Athens County vs. Ohio'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 Athens County's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Athens County's population rose from 49,183 in 1969 to 58,979 in 2022, for a net gain of 9,796, or 19.92%.

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 Ohio's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Ohio's population rose from 10,563,000 in 1969 to 11,756,058 in 2022, for a net gain of 1,193,058, or 11.29%.

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

Athens County's overall population growth was 19.92% over 1969-2022 outpaced Ohio's increase of 11.29%, and fell below the United States' increase of 65.57%.

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

In 1969, Athens County's population totaled 0.47% of Ohio's population, while in 2022 it comprised 0.50% thereby yielding a +0.04% share-shift.

Figure 5 shows the short-run pattern of Athens 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, Athens County's population grew at an annual rate of 0.37% over 1970-2022. The county posted its highest growth in 1970 (13.80%) and recorded its lowest growth in 2021 (-5.27%). In 2022, Athens County's population declined by -0.18%

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 Athens 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, Athens County's annual population growth rate averaged 1.27%. It averaged 0.78% in the 1980s, 0.37% during the 1990s, 0.44% in the 2000s, -0.29% during the 2010s, -2.03% thus far this decade (2020-2022).

Figure 7 compares the decade average growth rates for Athens County noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for Ohio and the nation. As the chart reveals, Athens County's average annual population growth outgained Ohio's average during the 1970s (1.27% vs. 0.22%), exceeded Ohio's average throughout the 1980s (0.78% vs. 0.03%), posted below Ohio's average throughout the 1990s (0.37% vs. 0.46%), registered above Ohio's average throughout the 2000s (0.44% vs. 0.17%), trailed Ohio's average throughout the 2010s (-0.29% vs. 0.22%), and recorded under Ohio's average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (-2.03% vs. -0.09%).

Finally, relative to nationwide population growth trends, Athens County recorded above the nation during the 1970s (1.27% vs. 1.10%), recorded underneath the nation over the 1980s (0.78% vs. 0.95%), lagged the nation throughout the 1990s (0.37% vs. 1.23%), recorded underneath the nation during the 2000s (0.44% vs. 0.95%), fell under the nation in the 2010s (-0.29% vs. 0.74%), and posted below the nation over 2020-2022 (-2.03% vs. 0.31%).