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 Morrill County with comparisons to Nebraska and the nation at large. This analysis features alternative approaches toward discussing, diagnosing and comparing Morrill 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 Morrill County's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Morrill County's population dropped from 5,903 in 1969 to 4,527 in 2022, for a net loss of -1,376, or -23.31%.

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 Morrill 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.

Morrill County's overall population growth was -23.31% 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 Morrill 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, Morrill County's population totaled 0.40% of Nebraska's population, while in 2022 it equated to 0.23% thereby yielding a -0.17% share-shift.

Figure 5 shows the short-run pattern of Morrill 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, Morrill County's population contracted at an annual rate of -0.49% over 1970-2022. The county posted its highest growth in 1980 (2.89%) and posted its lowest growth in 2018 (-3.13%). In 2022, Morrill County's population declined by -1.01%

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 depicts the annual percent change in Morrill 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, Morrill County's annual population growth rate averaged 0.04%. It averaged -0.82% in the 1980s, -0.06% throughout the 1990s, -0.74% during the 2000s, -0.98% during the 2010s, -0.15% thus far this decade (2020-2022).

Figure 7 compares the decade average growth rates for Morrill County noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for Nebraska and the nation. As the chart reveals, Morrill County's average annual population growth recorded under Nebraska's average throughout the 1970s (0.04% vs. 0.60%), trailed Nebraska's average throughout the 1980s (-0.82% vs. 0.07%), recorded under Nebraska's average during the 1990s (-0.06% vs. 0.80%), trailed Nebraska's average during the 2000s (-0.74% vs. 0.62%), amounted to less than Nebraska's average during the 2010s (-0.98% vs. 0.76%), and amounted to less than Nebraska's average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (-0.15% vs. 0.22%).

Finally, relative to nationwide population growth trends, Morrill County recorded underneath the nation during the 1970s (0.04% vs. 1.10%), posted below the nation in the 1980s (-0.82% vs. 0.95%), trailed the nation over the 1990s (-0.06% vs. 1.23%), fell below the nation during the 2000s (-0.74% vs. 0.95%), fell below the nation during the 2010s (-0.98% vs. 0.74%), and fell below the nation over 2020-2022 (-0.15% vs. 0.31%).