|
|
|
|
|
Analysis of U.S. Census Bureau estimates: Indianapolis suburbs continue rapid growth
Oct. 24, 2000
EDITORS: The population of each U.S. sub-county area has been estimated for July 1, 1999, by the U.S. Bureau of the Census. This analysis of the bureau's estimates for Indiana cities, towns and townships and estimates for these areas are available at STATS Indiana (http://www.stats.indiana.edu). For more information, call Joan Morand of the IBRC at 317-274-0872.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Hamilton County continues to be the fastest-growing area in Indiana, due to rapid growth in its communities of Fishers, Carmel, Noblesville and Westfield. By contrast, Indianapolis has experienced a small population gain, which Indiana University demographers said occurred early in the 1990s.
Population estimates released by the U.S. Bureau of the Census on Oct. 20 also show that several other Indianapolis suburbs, including Lawrence, Greenwood, Avon, Brownsburg, Whiteland and Mooresville, experienced rapid population growth between 1990 and 1999. In contrast, Indianapolis' population has declined since 1994.
While five suburban communities in northwest Indiana were among the state leaders in terms of rapid growth, that region's three largest industrial cities -- Gary, Hammond and East Chicago -- experienced some of the sharpest population declines in the state.
Worth noting, however, has been the effect of annexation on the populations of many Indiana communities, said Joan P. Morand, a research analyst with the Indiana Business Research Center in IU's Kelley School of Business. IBRC serves as the state's official liaison with the U.S. Bureau of the Census and regularly analyzes state population trends.
Morand said several cities have experienced significant amounts of annexation since the 1990 census. A large difference between the actual 1990 census count and the re-tabulated 1990 figure that coincides with the 1999 estimate's geography can greatly affect the resulting calculations of change and percent change in population.
"The largest difference by far is found in Fort Wayne, where the two 1990 figures differ by almost 30,000," she observed. "Using the 1990 census count for Fort Wayne as it was defined in 1990 results in population growth of almost 24,000 people or 13.7 percent, instead of population decline that is indicated when the 1990 figures that were re-tabulated using 1999 boundaries are used.
"Similarly, Lafayette has gained population since the 1990 census, due to annexation. Using the 1990 boundaries for Lafayette yields population growth of over 5,000 people or 12.2 percent, instead of a slight population decline that results from using the 1990 figures that were re-tabulated using 1999 boundaries."
For each of these cities, when looking at identical geography for 1990 and 1999, there has been population decline since 1990, Morand noted. However, the population of each of these cities has increased since 1990, due to annexation of land that was outside of the city limits in 1990.
Cities whose growth rates increase noticeably when 1990 census counts with 1990 boundaries are used as benchmarks include Jeffersonville, from 9.3 percent to 23.9 percent; Bloomington, 5.1 percent to 10.1 percent; Hobart, 1.8 percent to 15.1 percent; Columbus, 8.6 percent to 17 percent; Fishers, 205 percent to 304 percent; and New Albany, 5.1 percent to 10.9 percent.
Between 1990 and 1999, Indiana's population has grown by 7.2 percent. The nation's population has grown by 9.6 percent. Of the 1,008 townships in Indiana, 948 of them experienced population increases between 1990 and 1999, with the remaining 60 townships seeing a population decline.
In the current estimates, the fastest-growing community with a population of more than 20,000 has been Fishers in Hamilton County. Fishers had a 1990 census population of about 7,500, a re-tabulated 1990 figure of 9,900, and an estimated 1999 population of more than 30,000. The population of Fishers has quadrupled, or grown by more than 20,000 people, since 1990.
"A small part of the growth was due to annexation, but a direct comparison of similar geography using the 1999 boundaries for Fishers yields a growth rate of 205 percent between 1990 and 1999," Morand said.
Fishers' growth rate was three times that of the second-fastest-growing Hoosier city, Carmel, where the population grew by 75 percent. The third-fastest-growing city was Noblesville, which has grown by 55 percent. Those communities also are in Hamilton County.
Other cities and towns experiencing growth of at least 10 percent were Lawrence (33 percent, Marion County), Greenwood (29 percent, Johnson County), Schererville (22 percent, Lake County), West Lafayette (16 percent, Tippecanoe County), Portage (14 percent, Porter County), Merrillville (12 percent, Lake County), Crown Point (10 percent, Lake County) and Valparaiso (10 percent, Porter County).
Other Indiana cities growing faster than the state between 1990 and 1999 were: Jeffersonville (9.3 percent, Clark County), Goshen (8.8 percent, Elkhart County) and Columbus (8.6 percent, Bartholomew County).
Three Hamilton County communities also led the state in terms of the number of persons added to the population. Fishers added 20,400 persons; Carmel, 19,800; and Noblesville, 10,100. Other leaders were Lawrence, which added 8,600 persons, Greenwood, with 7,800 more and Indianapolis, with 6,700 more.
Cities with population decline of 3,000 or more include: South Bend (7,100), Hammond (6,900), Gary (6,300), Fort Wayne (6,300), Muncie (4,900), Terre Haute (4,800), Evansville (4,300), East Chicago (3,400) and Marion (3,000).
Large cities with the highest rates of population loss were East Chicago, with a decline of 10.1 percent; Marion, 9.1 percent; Terre Haute, 8.3 percent; Hammond, 8.2 percent; Muncie, 6.8 percent; and South Bend, 6.7 percent.
There has been no change in the ranking of Indiana's most populous cities since 1990. The 10 largest Hoosier cities continue to be Indianapolis, with a population of 749,000; Fort Wayne, 197,000; Evansville, 122,000; Gary, 110,000; South Bend, 99,000; Hammond, 77,000; Muncie, 67,000; Bloomington, 67,000; Anderson, 58,000; and Terre Haute, 53,000.
Together, Indiana's top 10 cities declined in population by 32,000 or 2 percent between 1990 and 1999. More rapid growth was seen in cities and towns with estimated populations between 20,000 and 50,000. Together, these communities experienced a population gain of 88,000 persons or 10.9 percent. However, if Fishers, Carmel and Noblesville are removed from this group, the yield is a more moderate population growth of 38,000 people or 5 percent.
Among cities with populations of less than 20,000 persons, Westfield experienced the fastest growth. The town has more than tripled in population since the 1990 census to an estimated 1999 population of almost 12,000, and it had a growth rate of 227 percent.
Other fast-growing Indiana small towns and cities were Avon, with a growth rate of 80 percent (community officials are challenging this estimate, saying it is too low); Santa Claus, 77 percent; St. John, 68 percent; De Motte, 67 percent; Brownsburg, 58 percent; Whiteland, 58 percent; Mooresville, 57 percent; and Whitestown, 51 percent.
Many of these smaller communities also were among the state's leaders in terms of persons added to their populations. Since 1990, Westfield's population has grown by 8,100 persons; Franklin, by 4,700; Brownsburg, by 4,600; St. John, by 3,400; Mooresville, by 3,300 and Plainfield, by 3,200.
These estimates are not the result of a direct count of the population. Produced by the census bureau, the estimates are the result of a demographic technique called the Distributive Housing Method. Population totals for Indiana and the other 50 states will be available by Dec. 31, 2000, with population data for counties and smaller geographic areas available by April 1, 2001.