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 Maine and the nation at large. This analysis features alternative approaches toward discussing, diagnosing and comparing Washington 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 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 rose from 30,083 in 1969 to 31,437 in 2022, for a net gain of 1,354, or 4.50%.

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 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 shows Washington 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.

Washington County's overall population growth was 4.50% 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 highlighting the population growth of Washington County is to trace 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, Washington County's population comprised 3.03% of Maine's population, while in 2022 it totaled 2.27% thereby yielding a -0.76% share-shift.

Figure 5 shows 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 grew at an annual rate of 0.09% over 1970-2022. The county posted its highest growth in 1976 (4.01%) and posted its lowest growth in 1998 (-1.40%). In 2022, Washington County's population grew by 0.87%

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 shows the annual percent change in Washington 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, Washington County's annual population growth rate averaged 1.65%. It averaged -0.10% during the 1980s, -0.25% during the 1990s, -0.36% throughout the 2000s, -0.62% in the 2010s, 0.54% 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 Maine and the nation. As the chart reveals, Washington County's average annual population growth outperformed Maine's average in the 1970s (1.65% vs. 1.27%), lagged Maine's average during the 1980s (-0.10% vs. 0.82%), recorded under Maine's average during the 1990s (-0.25% vs. 0.38%), fell below Maine's average throughout the 2000s (-0.36% vs. 0.49%), lagged Maine's average in the 2010s (-0.62% vs. 0.21%), and lagged Maine's average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (0.54% vs. 0.68%).

Finally, relative to nationwide population growth trends, Washington County outgained the nation in the 1970s (1.65% vs. 1.10%), lagged the nation in the 1980s (-0.10% vs. 0.95%), posted below the nation over the 1990s (-0.25% vs. 1.23%), fell below the nation during the 2000s (-0.36% vs. 0.95%), recorded underneath the nation during the 2010s (-0.62% vs. 0.74%), and outpaced the nation over 2020-2022 (0.54% vs. 0.31%).