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 Canyon County with comparisons to Idaho and the nation at large. This analysis features alternative approaches toward discussing, diagnosing and comparing Canyon County vs. Idaho'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 Canyon County's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Canyon County's population rose from 60,945 in 1969 to 251,065 in 2022, for a net gain of 190,120, or 311.95%.

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 traces Idaho's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Idaho's population rose from 707,000 in 1969 to 1,939,033 in 2022, for a net gain of 1,232,033, or 174.26%.

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 portrays Canyon County's population growth in a broader context by offering direct comparisons across time with Idaho, 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.

Canyon County's overall population growth was 311.95% over 1969-2022 outpaced Idaho's increase of 174.26%, and topped the United States' increase of 65.57%.

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

In 1969, Canyon County's population comprised 8.62% of Idaho's population, while in 2022 it equated to 12.95% thereby yielding a +4.33% share-shift.

Figure 5 displays the short-run pattern of Canyon 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 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, Canyon County's population grew at an annual rate of 2.72% over 1970-2022. The county recorded its highest growth in 1971 (6.57%) and recorded its lowest growth in 1987 (-0.98%). In 2022, Canyon County's population grew by 2.99%

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 Canyon 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, Canyon County's annual population growth rate averaged 3.30%. It averaged 0.54% throughout the 1980s, 3.62% during the 1990s, 3.99% during the 2000s, 1.92% during the 2010s, 3.49% thus far this decade (2020-2022).

Figure 7 compares the decade average growth rates for Canyon County noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for Idaho and the nation. As the chart reveals, Canyon County's average annual population growth recorded above Idaho's average in the 1970s (3.30% vs. 2.81%), trailed Idaho's average throughout the 1980s (0.54% vs. 0.65%), exceeded Idaho's average in the 1990s (3.62% vs. 2.52%), topped Idaho's average in the 2000s (3.99% vs. 2.00%), exceeded Idaho's average in the 2010s (1.92% vs. 1.52%), and outperformed Idaho's average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (3.49% vs. 2.36%).

Finally, relative to nationwide population growth trends, Canyon County outpaced the nation over the 1970s (3.30% vs. 1.10%), recorded underneath the nation in the 1980s (0.54% vs. 0.95%), topped the nation in the 1990s (3.62% vs. 1.23%), topped the nation throughout the 2000s (3.99% vs. 0.95%), outperformed the nation during the 2010s (1.92% vs. 0.74%), and outgained the nation over 2020-2022 (3.49% vs. 0.31%).