County’s population falls nearly 5 percent

Montgomery County lost nearly 5 percent of its population since the start of the decade. That’s according to information from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The biennial update of Iowa counties’ population estimates was released last week by the State Date Center of Iowa. The new estimates from the Census Bureau are based on administrative data for births and deaths and estimates of migration since the 2010 census.

It showed Montgomery County’s population to be 10,225, down 4.8 percent from the official 2010 census. It said the county lost an estimated 515 residents in that six-year period.

The county was one of 73 Iowa counties to lose population this decade. 

Adams County, with a loss of 336 residents since 2010, had the largest percentage decrease in population at 8.3 percent.

Pottawattamie County was the lone southwest Iowa county to gain population. The bureau said it had an increase of 433 people or 0.5 percent, to 93,582.

Other southwest Iowa counties had the following estimates:

• Fremont: 6,950 residents, down 491 or 6.6 percent.

• Page: 15,391 residents, down 552 or 3.5 percent.

• Taylor: 6,216 residents, down 101 or 1.6 percent.

• Ringgold: 5,068 residents, down 63 or 1.2 percent.

• Union: 12,420 residents, down 114 or 0.9 percent.

• Mills: 14,972 residents, down 87 or 0.6 percent.

• Cass: 13,157 residents, down 799 or 5.7 percent.

• Adair: 7,092 residents, down 590 or 7.7 percent.

Declining population was most prevalent in rural Iowa counties or in counties where there were manufacturing losses. However, some parts of Iowa are rapidly growing. 

Dallas County had the fifth fastest growing, according to new estimates provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. Dallas County’s population has swelled by more than 27 percent since 2010.

Other central Iowa counties which had estimated increases were Polk, Story, Boone, Madison, Warren and Clarke. In northwest Iowa, Lyon, Sioux, Plymouth, Woodbury, Dickinson and Buena Vista counties had increases. In eastern Iowa, Bremer, Black Hawk, Buchanan, Dubuque, Linn, Johnson, Scott, Muscatine, Washington and Jefferson counties grew. Along the southern tier of counties, Wayne and Davis counties had growth.

 “While the 2016 population estimates show that Iowa’s population continues to grow, that growth is occurring in only 23 of Iowa’s 99 counties,” said Gary Krob, coordinator of the State Data Center at the State Library of Iowa. “The Des Moines-West Des Moines Metropolitan area was our fastest growing metro area, increasing by 11.4 percent since 2010.”

Clinton County has had the largest decline in population since 2010, losing 1,807 people, while Adams County has declined at the highest rate, with a decrease of 8.3 percent of its population since 2010. Net migration losses occurred in 77 other counties, where more people moved out of the county than into it.

Other findings from the 2016 County population and Metropolitan Statistical Area population Estimates (all data compared to 2010 Census numbers):

26 counties gained population; 73 counties lost population.

Largest county: Polk, 474,045 residents; smallest county: Adams, 3,693 residents

Polk County saw the largest increase in population, a gain of 43,410 residents

Dallas County had the fastest growing population (27.8 percent), followed by Johnson county (12.0 percent), and Polk county (10.1 percent)

51.8 percent of the total state population (3,134,693) lives in 10 counties: Polk, Linn, Scott, Johnson, Black Hawk, Woodbury, Story, Dubuque, Pottawattamie, and Dallas. All ten counties are part of an Iowa Metropolitan Statistical Area

78.8 percent of all the international migration in Iowa occurred in 10 counties: Polk, Johnson, Story, Linn, Jefferson, Black Hawk, Dallas, Woodbury, and Scott.

Fastest growing metro areas in Iowa: Des Moines-West Des Moines Metro Area at 11.4 percent, followed by Iowa City Metro Area at 10.6 percent, and the Ames Metro Area at 8.4 percent

The new county, metropolitan, and micropolitan population estimates, rankings, and maps are on the State Library’s State Data Center web site at IowaDataCenter.org.