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 Columbia County with comparisons to Arkansas and the nation at large. This analysis features alternative approaches toward discussing, diagnosing and comparing Columbia County vs. Arkansas' 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 Columbia County's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Columbia County's population dropped from 26,044 in 1969 to 22,216 in 2022, for a net loss of -3,828, or -14.70%.

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 Arkansas' annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Arkansas' population rose from 1,913,000 in 1969 to 3,045,637 in 2022, for a net gain of 1,132,637, or 59.21%.

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

Columbia County's overall population growth was -14.70% over 1969-2022 trailed Arkansas' increase of 59.21%, and fell below the United States' increase of 65.57%.

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

In 1969, Columbia County's population totaled 1.36% of Arkansas' population, while in 2022 it comprised 0.73% thereby yielding a -0.63% share-shift.

Figure 5 shows the short-run pattern of Columbia 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, Columbia County's population contracted at an annual rate of -0.30% over 1970-2022. The county posted its highest growth in 1971 (2.91%) and posted its lowest growth in 1972 (-2.11%). In 2022, Columbia County's population declined by -1.31%

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 Columbia 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, Columbia County's annual population growth rate averaged 0.11%. It averaged -0.13% during the 1980s, -0.13% in the 1990s, -0.39% throughout the 2000s, -0.70% in the 2010s, -1.09% thus far this decade (2020-2022).

Figure 7 compares the decade average growth rates for Columbia County noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for Arkansas and the nation. As the chart reveals, Columbia County's average annual population growth posted below Arkansas' average during the 1970s (0.11% vs. 1.72%), amounted to less than Arkansas' average in the 1980s (-0.13% vs. 0.34%), posted below Arkansas' average throughout the 1990s (-0.13% vs. 1.23%), lagged Arkansas' average throughout the 2000s (-0.39% vs. 0.89%), posted below Arkansas' average throughout the 2010s (-0.70% vs. 0.36%), and lagged Arkansas' average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (-1.09% vs. 0.46%).

Finally, relative to nationwide population growth trends, Columbia County fell under the nation throughout the 1970s (0.11% vs. 1.10%), trailed the nation over the 1980s (-0.13% vs. 0.95%), fell under the nation over the 1990s (-0.13% vs. 1.23%), trailed the nation in the 2000s (-0.39% vs. 0.95%), trailed the nation over the 2010s (-0.70% vs. 0.74%), and lagged the nation over 2020-2022 (-1.09% vs. 0.31%).