Evangeline Parish vs. Louisiana Comparative Trends Analysis: Population Growth and Change, 1969-2022 Introduction Evangeline Parish: 2022 Population = 31,986 2022 Percent of State = 0.70% Louisiana: 2022 Population = 4,590,241 2022 Percent of U.S. = 1.38% 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 Evangeline Parish with comparisons to Louisiana and the nation at large. This analysis features alternative approaches toward discussing, diagnosing and comparing Evangeline Parish vs. Louisiana'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. Population, 1969-2022 Figure 1. Figure 1 traces Evangeline Parish's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Evangeline Parish's population rose from 31,880 in 1969 to 31,986 in 2022, for a net gain of 106, or 0.33%. 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. Population, 1969-2022 Figure 2. Figure 2 tracks Louisiana's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Louisiana's population rose from 3,619,000 in 1969 to 4,590,241 in 2022, for a net gain of 971,241, or 26.84%. 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. Population Indices (1969=100): 1969-2022 Figure 3. Figure 3 portrays Evangeline Parish's population growth in a broader context by offering direct comparisons across time with Louisiana, 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. Evangeline Parish's overall population growth was 0.33% over 1969-2022 trailed Louisiana's increase of 26.84%, and fell below the United States' increase of 65.57%. Population as a Percent of the Louisiana Total: 1969-2022 Figure 4. Another interesting and insightful way of highlighting the population growth of Evangeline Parish is to compare its individual percentage contributions to Louisiana's statewide population over time, as shown in Figure 4. A rising share means a region's population grew faster, or declined less, than Louisiana's population, while a declining share shows it grew more slowly. In 1969, Evangeline Parish's population comprised 0.88% of Louisiana's population, while in 2022 it equated to 0.70% thereby yielding a -0.18% share-shift.
Evangeline Parish Population: Annual Percent Change, 1970-2022 Figure 5. Figure 5 shows the short-run pattern of Evangeline Parish'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, Evangeline Parish's population grew at an annual rate of 0.01% over 1970-2022. The parish recorded its highest growth in 1971 (3.31%) and recorded its lowest growth in 1987 (-2.04%). In 2022, Evangeline Parish's population declined by -0.63% Evangeline Parish Population: Annual Percent Change and Decade Averages Over 1970-2022 Figure 6. Over the past five decades some parishes have experienced extreme swings in growth, and often such swings have tended to coincide with the decades themselves. Figure 6 again shows the annual percent change in Evangeline Parish's population since 1970, but this time they are overlayed with average growth rates for the decade of the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020-2022. During the 1970s, Evangeline Parish's annual population growth rate averaged 0.39%. It averaged 0.12% during the 1980s, 0.56% during the 1990s, -0.38% during the 2000s, -0.47% during the 2010s, -0.55% thus far this decade (2020-2022). Population Growth: Average Annual Percent Change by Decade Figure 7. Figure 7 compares the decade average growth rates for Evangeline Parish noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for Louisiana and the nation. As the chart reveals, Evangeline Parish's average annual population growth amounted to less than Louisiana's average throughout the 1970s (0.39% vs. 1.35%), fell below Louisiana's average in the 1980s (0.12% vs. 0.28%), outpaced Louisiana's average in the 1990s (0.56% vs. 0.48%), posted below Louisiana's average throughout the 2000s (-0.38% vs. 0.09%), lagged Louisiana's average during the 2010s (-0.47% vs. 0.38%), and recorded under Louisiana's average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (-0.55% vs. -0.53%). Finally, relative to nationwide population growth trends, Evangeline Parish fell under the nation in the 1970s (0.39% vs. 1.10%), trailed the nation over the 1980s (0.12% vs. 0.95%), recorded underneath the nation during the 1990s (0.56% vs. 1.23%), trailed the nation during the 2000s (-0.38% vs. 0.95%), lagged the nation in the 2010s (-0.47% vs. 0.74%), and lagged the nation over 2020-2022 (-0.55% vs. 0.31%).
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