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 Park County with comparisons to Colorado and the nation at large. This analysis features alternative approaches toward discussing, diagnosing and comparing Park County vs. Colorado'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 Park County's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Park County's population rose from 2,126 in 1969 to 17,939 in 2022, for a net gain of 15,813, or 743.79%.

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 Colorado's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Colorado's population rose from 2,166,000 in 1969 to 5,839,926 in 2022, for a net gain of 3,673,926, or 169.62%.

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

Park County's overall population growth was 743.79% over 1969-2022 outpaced Colorado's increase of 169.62%, and topped the United States' increase of 65.57%.

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

In 1969, Park County's population totaled 0.10% of Colorado's population, while in 2022 it totaled 0.31% thereby yielding a +0.21% share-shift.

Figure 5 displays the short-run pattern of Park 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, Park County's population grew at an annual rate of 4.21% over 1970-2022. The county recorded its highest growth in 1972 (20.19%) and posted its lowest growth in 2011 (-2.15%). In 2022, Park County's population grew by 1.02%

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 illustrates the annual percent change in Park 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, Park County's annual population growth rate averaged 8.05%. It averaged 4.57% throughout the 1980s, 7.15% throughout the 1990s, 1.43% in the 2000s, 0.85% during the 2010s, 0.85% thus far this decade (2020-2022).

Figure 7 compares the decade average growth rates for Park County noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for Colorado and the nation. As the chart reveals, Park County's average annual population growth registered above Colorado's average throughout the 1970s (8.05% vs. 2.78%), surpassed Colorado's average in the 1980s (4.57% vs. 1.41%), surpassed Colorado's average in the 1990s (7.15% vs. 2.58%), trailed Colorado's average during the 2000s (1.43% vs. 1.64%), posted below Colorado's average throughout the 2010s (0.85% vs. 1.44%), and exceeded Colorado's average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (0.85% vs. 0.60%).

Finally, relative to nationwide population growth trends, Park County surpassed the nation during the 1970s (8.05% vs. 1.10%), surpassed the nation in the 1980s (4.57% vs. 0.95%), surpassed the nation in the 1990s (7.15% vs. 1.23%), outpaced the nation throughout the 2000s (1.43% vs. 0.95%), recorded above the nation over the 2010s (0.85% vs. 0.74%), and outgained the nation over 2020-2022 (0.85% vs. 0.31%).