Population growth cools in many Indiana communities.

AuthorKinghorn, Matt

The state added roughly 26,140 residents in 2014--a 0.4 percent increase over the previous year. By comparison, Indiana added 33,100 residents in 2013, and grew by an average of nearly 40,000 per year between 2000 and 2010. Indiana ranked as the 29th fastest-growing state last year and its growth rate outpaced each of its neighboring states. With nearly 6.6 million residents in 2014, Indiana is the nation's 16th most populous state.

Population Change around the State

Suburban communities in the Indianapolis metro area claimed the top three spots among all Indiana counties for pace of growth (see Figure 2). Boone County was the state's fastest-growing county with a 2.3 percent increase, followed by Hamilton County (2.0 percent) and Hendricks County (1.6 percent). These three held the top spots in 2013, as well, but each of them saw slightly slower rates of growth in 2014.

Southwestern Indiana's Daviess County and Clark County in the Louisville metro area--each with 1.3 percent growth--rounded out the state's top five fastest-growing counties in 2014. Both of these communities bucked the statewide trend and posted stronger growth in 2014 than they did the previous year.

The next five fastest-growing counties were Hancock (1.2 percent growth), Johnson (1.2 percent), Tippecanoe (1.2 percent), Decatur (1.0 percent) and LaGrange (1.0 percent) counties.

For the third consecutive year, Marion County had the state's largest numeric gain with an increase of 5,894 residents in 2014. For Marion County--which has seen stronger-than-usual growth over the previous few years--the 2014 increase was its smallest one-year gain since 2007. Indiana's other top gainers were Hamilton (5,795), Hendricks (2,412), Allen (2,322) and Tippecanoe (2,149) counties.

At the other end of the spectrum, many Indiana communities lost population in 2014. Lake County (Gary/Hammond) had the state's largest population decline in 2014 with a loss of 1,175 residents. Grant County (Marion) had the state's second-largest drop at 475 residents, followed by Fayette County (Connersville) with a decline of 371 residents.

In terms of the pace of decline, Fayette County had the state's highest rate of population loss last year with a 1.6 percent decline. Fountain (-1.2 percent), Tipton (-1.1 percent), Vermillion (-1.0 percent) and Jennings (-1.0 percent) counties also posted significant population losses.

Components of Population Change

In all, 44 of Indiana's 92 counties lost population in...

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