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 Washington County with comparisons to Pennsylvania and the nation at large. This analysis features alternative approaches toward discussing, diagnosing and comparing Washington County vs. Pennsylvania'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 Washington County's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Washington County's population dropped from 211,417 in 1969 to 210,383 in 2022, for a net loss of -1,034, or -0.49%.

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 Pennsylvania's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Pennsylvania's population rose from 11,741,000 in 1969 to 12,972,008 in 2022, for a net gain of 1,231,008, or 10.48%.

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

Washington County's overall population growth was -0.49% over 1969-2022 trailed Pennsylvania's increase of 10.48%, and fell below the United States' increase of 65.57%.

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

In 1969, Washington County's population comprised 1.80% of Pennsylvania's population, while in 2022 it totaled 1.62% thereby yielding a -0.18% share-shift.

Figure 5 highlights the short-run pattern of Washington 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, Washington County's population contracted at an annual rate of -0.01% over 1970-2022. The county posted its highest growth in 1971 (1.91%) and posted its lowest growth in 1985 (-1.53%). In 2022, Washington County's population grew by 0.18%

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 depicts the annual percent change in Washington County'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, Washington County's annual population growth rate averaged 0.37%. It averaged -0.70% throughout the 1980s, -0.07% in the 1990s, 0.22% during the 2000s, 0.07% throughout the 2010s, 0.21% thus far this decade (2020-2022).

Figure 7 compares the decade average growth rates for Washington County noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for Pennsylvania and the nation. As the chart reveals, Washington County's average annual population growth registered above Pennsylvania's average during the 1970s (0.37% vs. 0.11%), amounted to less than Pennsylvania's average in the 1980s (-0.70% vs. -0.01%), trailed Pennsylvania's average throughout the 1990s (-0.07% vs. 0.33%), lagged Pennsylvania's average during the 2000s (0.22% vs. 0.32%), trailed Pennsylvania's average throughout the 2010s (0.07% vs. 0.25%), and outpaced Pennsylvania's average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (0.21% vs. -0.05%).

Finally, relative to nationwide population growth trends, Washington County recorded underneath the nation in the 1970s (0.37% vs. 1.10%), lagged the nation in the 1980s (-0.70% vs. 0.95%), lagged the nation during the 1990s (-0.07% vs. 1.23%), fell under the nation throughout the 2000s (0.22% vs. 0.95%), recorded underneath the nation throughout the 2010s (0.07% vs. 0.74%), and fell under the nation over 2020-2022 (0.21% vs. 0.31%).