Midwest vs. United States Comparative Trends Analysis: Population Growth and Change, 1958-2022 Introduction  Midwest: 2022 Population = 68,787,595 2022 Percent of U.S. = 20.64% U.S.: 2022 Population = 333,287,557 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 the Midwest with comparisons to the nation at large. The data used are those compiled by the Regional Income and Product Divisions of the Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce. Population, 1958-2022  Figure 1. Figure 1 traces the Midwest's annual population for the period 1958-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 65-year period, the Midwest's population rose from 50,572,000 in 1958 to 68,787,595 in 2022, for a net gain of 18,215,595, or 36.02%. NOTE: The 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. Population Indices (1958=100): 1958-2022  Figure 2. Figure 2 shows the Midwest's population growth in a broader context by offering direct comparisons across time with the United States. The growth indices shown here express each region's population in 1958 as a base figure of 100, and the populations in later years as a percentage of the 1958 base figure. This method allows for more direct comparison of differences in population growth between regions that may differ vastly in size. The Midwest's overall population growth was 36.02% over 1958-2022 trailed the United States' increase of 91.38%. Population as a Percent of the United States Total: 1958-2022  Figure 3. Another interesting and insightful way of contrasting the population growth of the Midwest is to trace its individual percentage contributions to the United States' total population over time, as shown in Figure 3. A rising share means a region's population grew faster, or declined less, than the United States' population, while a declining share shows it grew more slowly. In 1958, the Midwest's population totaled 29.04% of the United States' population, while in 2022 it comprised 20.64% thereby yielding a -8.40% share-shift.
Midwest Population: Annual Percent Change, 1959-2022  Figure 4. Figure 4 displays the short-run pattern of the Midwest's population growth by tracking the year-to-year percent change over 1959-2022. The average annual percent change for the entire 64-year period is also illustrated 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, the Midwest's population grew at an annual rate of 0.48% over 1959-2022. The Midwest posted its highest growth in 1960 (1.16%) and posted its lowest growth in 1982 (-0.22%). In 2022, the Midwest's population declined by -0.07% Midwest Population: Annual Percent Change and Decade Averages Over 1959-2022  Figure 5. Over the past six decades some census regions have experienced extreme swings in growth, and often such swings have tended to coincide with the decades themselves. Figure 5 again shows the annual percent change in the Midwest's population since 1959, but this time they are overlayed with average growth rates for the decade of the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020-2022. During the 1960s, the Midwest's annual population growth rate averaged 0.93%. It averaged 0.45% in the 1970s, 0.13% throughout the 1980s, 0.75% during the 1990s, 0.41% in the 2000s, 0.32% during the 2010s, -0.06% thus far this decade (2020-2022). Population Growth: Average Annual Percent Change by Decade  Figure 6. Figure 6 compares the decade average growth rates for the Midwest noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for the nation. Relative to nationwide population growth trends, the Midwest recorded underneath the nation over the 1960s (0.93% vs. 1.29%), fell below the nation in the 1970s (0.45% vs. 1.10%), lagged the nation during the 1980s (0.13% vs. 0.95%), fell under the nation over the 1990s (0.75% vs. 1.23%), posted below the nation over the 2000s (0.41% vs. 0.95%), fell below the nation throughout the 2010s (0.32% vs. 0.74%), and recorded underneath the nation over 2020-2022 (-0.06% vs. 0.31%).
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