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 Hooker County with comparisons to Nebraska and the nation at large. This analysis features alternative approaches toward discussing, diagnosing and comparing Hooker County vs. Nebraska'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 Hooker County's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Hooker County's population dropped from 990 in 1969 to 686 in 2022, for a net loss of -304, or -30.71%.

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 Nebraska's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Nebraska's population rose from 1,474,000 in 1969 to 1,967,923 in 2022, for a net gain of 493,923, or 33.51%.

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

Hooker County's overall population growth was -30.71% over 1969-2022 trailed Nebraska's increase of 33.51%, and fell below the United States' increase of 65.57%.

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

In 1969, Hooker County's population totaled 0.07% of Nebraska's population, while in 2022 it comprised 0.03% thereby yielding a -0.03% share-shift.

Figure 5 displays the short-run pattern of Hooker 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, Hooker County's population contracted at an annual rate of -0.65% over 1970-2022. The county posted its highest growth in 1973 (7.78%) and recorded its lowest growth in 2022 (-6.16%). In 2022, Hooker County's population declined by -6.16%

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 Hooker 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, Hooker County's annual population growth rate averaged 0.44%. It averaged -2.63% during the 1980s, -0.04% in the 1990s, -0.61% in the 2000s, -0.11% during the 2010s, -1.70% thus far this decade (2020-2022).

Figure 7 compares the decade average growth rates for Hooker County noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for Nebraska and the nation. As the chart reveals, Hooker County's average annual population growth recorded under Nebraska's average during the 1970s (0.44% vs. 0.60%), posted below Nebraska's average throughout the 1980s (-2.63% vs. 0.07%), lagged Nebraska's average during the 1990s (-0.04% vs. 0.80%), fell below Nebraska's average in the 2000s (-0.61% vs. 0.62%), fell below Nebraska's average during the 2010s (-0.11% vs. 0.76%), and recorded under Nebraska's average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (-1.70% vs. 0.22%).

Finally, relative to nationwide population growth trends, Hooker County lagged the nation throughout the 1970s (0.44% vs. 1.10%), trailed the nation throughout the 1980s (-2.63% vs. 0.95%), trailed the nation throughout the 1990s (-0.04% vs. 1.23%), posted below the nation throughout the 2000s (-0.61% vs. 0.95%), posted below the nation during the 2010s (-0.11% vs. 0.74%), and fell under the nation over 2020-2022 (-1.70% vs. 0.31%).