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 Livingston County with comparisons to Illinois and the nation at large. This analysis features alternative approaches toward discussing, diagnosing and comparing Livingston County vs. Illinois' 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 Livingston County's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Livingston County's population dropped from 40,778 in 1969 to 35,521 in 2022, for a net loss of -5,257, or -12.89%.

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 Illinois' annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Illinois' population rose from 11,039,000 in 1969 to 12,582,032 in 2022, for a net gain of 1,543,032, or 13.98%.

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

Livingston County's overall population growth was -12.89% over 1969-2022 trailed Illinois' increase of 13.98%, and fell below the United States' increase of 65.57%.

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

In 1969, Livingston County's population comprised 0.37% of Illinois' population, while in 2022 it comprised 0.28% thereby yielding a -0.09% share-shift.

Figure 5 shows the short-run pattern of Livingston 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, Livingston County's population contracted at an annual rate of -0.26% over 1970-2022. The county recorded its highest growth in 1971 (2.42%) and recorded its lowest growth in 2013 (-2.80%). In 2022, Livingston County's population declined by -0.62%

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 Livingston 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, Livingston County's annual population growth rate averaged 0.19%. It averaged -0.52% in the 1980s, 0.10% in the 1990s, -0.18% throughout the 2000s, -0.84% during the 2010s, -0.33% thus far this decade (2020-2022).

Figure 7 compares the decade average growth rates for Livingston County noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for Illinois and the nation. As the chart reveals, Livingston County's average annual population growth recorded under Illinois' average during the 1970s (0.19% vs. 0.34%), amounted to less than Illinois' average during the 1980s (-0.52% vs. -0.01%), fell below Illinois' average during the 1990s (0.10% vs. 0.80%), fell below Illinois' average throughout the 2000s (-0.18% vs. 0.35%), lagged Illinois' average throughout the 2010s (-0.84% vs. 0.04%), and outgained Illinois' average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (-0.33% vs. -0.70%).

Finally, relative to nationwide population growth trends, Livingston County fell under the nation in the 1970s (0.19% vs. 1.10%), recorded underneath the nation during the 1980s (-0.52% vs. 0.95%), fell below the nation over the 1990s (0.10% vs. 1.23%), posted below the nation in the 2000s (-0.18% vs. 0.95%), posted below the nation in the 2010s (-0.84% vs. 0.74%), and lagged the nation over 2020-2022 (-0.33% vs. 0.31%).