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 Androscoggin County with comparisons to Maine and the nation at large. This analysis features alternative approaches toward discussing, diagnosing and comparing Androscoggin County vs. Maine'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 Androscoggin County's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Androscoggin County's population rose from 90,890 in 1969 to 113,023 in 2022, for a net gain of 22,133, or 24.35%.

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 Maine's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Maine's population rose from 992,000 in 1969 to 1,385,340 in 2022, for a net gain of 393,340, or 39.65%.

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

Androscoggin County's overall population growth was 24.35% over 1969-2022 trailed Maine's increase of 39.65%, and fell below the United States' increase of 65.57%.

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

In 1969, Androscoggin County's population comprised 9.16% of Maine's population, while in 2022 it comprised 8.16% thereby yielding a -1.00% share-shift.

Figure 5 shows the short-run pattern of Androscoggin 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, Androscoggin County's population grew at an annual rate of 0.41% over 1970-2022. The county recorded its highest growth in 1988 (2.15%) and recorded its lowest growth in 1996 (-0.77%). In 2022, Androscoggin County's population grew by 0.33%

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 traces the annual percent change in Androscoggin 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, Androscoggin County's annual population growth rate averaged 0.93%. It averaged 0.55% during the 1980s, -0.18% during the 1990s, 0.42% throughout the 2000s, 0.26% in the 2010s, 0.70% thus far this decade (2020-2022).

Figure 7 compares the decade average growth rates for Androscoggin County noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for Maine and the nation. As the chart reveals, Androscoggin County's average annual population growth posted below Maine's average in the 1970s (0.93% vs. 1.27%), fell below Maine's average in the 1980s (0.55% vs. 0.82%), lagged Maine's average throughout the 1990s (-0.18% vs. 0.38%), recorded under Maine's average in the 2000s (0.42% vs. 0.49%), recorded above Maine's average during the 2010s (0.26% vs. 0.21%), and registered above Maine's average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (0.70% vs. 0.68%).

Finally, relative to nationwide population growth trends, Androscoggin County trailed the nation over the 1970s (0.93% vs. 1.10%), trailed the nation during the 1980s (0.55% vs. 0.95%), lagged the nation over the 1990s (-0.18% vs. 1.23%), posted below the nation during the 2000s (0.42% vs. 0.95%), lagged the nation in the 2010s (0.26% vs. 0.74%), and outpaced the nation over 2020-2022 (0.70% vs. 0.31%).