For the record.

• Position: Population estimates and per capita income - Brief Article

For the Record:

Each year a full cycle of state, county, city and township population estimates are reviewed by this office, which serves as the state's official representative to the Federal-State Cooperative on Population Estimates, a program of the U.S. Census Bureau.

IBRC demographer, John Besl, submits questions and comments on those estimates that may be out of sync with what we know about population dynamics in the Hoosier State. When the Bureau publishes without revision, we use these pages (and our web site) to put our research-based disagreements on the record.

With the latest release of 2001 county-level estimates, Starke County showed a loss of more than 1,700 persons since the census in 2000. Vital events data and other information, including conversations with people in Starke County, did not yield confirmation of such a significant (7.53%) loss. Demographic questions focused on the IRS migration data, since the out-migration figure resulting from those data seem to be the driving force in the decline. While the Census Bureau did respond to challenge, it wasn't by much. Two points: (1) Indiana has a voice in the population estimates. (2) When the...