Date:
12/22/2008
Information Contact 1:
Bob Fick :
(208) 332-3570 ext 3628 :
Information Contact 2:
Georgia Smith :
(208) 841-5509 :
Idaho’s 2008 Population Growth Slows Dramatically
Idaho remained one of the nation’s fastest growing states in 2008, but the recession slowed that growth dramatically.
The U.S. Census Bureau on Monday estimated the state’s population grew 1.85 percent between mid-2007 and mid-2008, the sixth fastest rate among the states but the slowest growth rate for Idaho since 2002 in the aftermath of the last national recession. Utah, Arizona, Texas, North Carolina and Colorado grew at higher rates, all 2 percent or above.
Nationally, the population grew 0.9 percent, slightly slower than the year before.
Nearly 28,000 more people lived in Idaho in 2008 than the year before, sending the state’s total population over 1.5 million to 1,523,816. The Census Bureau revised its estimates downward by 3,000 for both 2007 and 2006.
The slowdown in Idaho’s growth was the result of a significant decline in the number of people moving to the state from elsewhere in the country and the world. Migration fell to 14,000 from mid-2007 to mid-2008, the first time under 20,000 in four years. Migration was responsible for Idaho’s population growth running at 2.4 percent in 2005, 2.6 percent in 2006 and 2.4 percent again in 2007.
The new estimate also put natural population growth – births less deaths – at 14,000, the first time natural growth has matched migration since the recovery from the 2001 recession began in 2003.
But despite the economic slowdown that has cost Idaho 18,000 jobs in the past year, the state remained a magnet. The 14,000 people who moved to Idaho from other states or countries pushed the Gem State to 18th for total migration.
Idaho remained the 39th most population state, about 260,000 behind Nebraska and 200,000 ahead of Maine.
Since the 2000 census, Idaho’s population has increased nearly 18 percent – or 230,000 people – the fifth fastest rate nationally behind Nevada, Arizona, Utah and Georgia. About 100,000 of that increase came from natural growth and the rest from migration.
|
State Population, 2008-2007
|
|
State
|
July 1, 2008
|
July 1, 2007
|
Increase
|
Percent Change
|
Rank By Percent
|
|
United States
|
304,059,724
|
301,290,332
|
2,769,392
|
0.92%
|
|
|
.Alabama
|
4,661,900
|
4,626,595
|
35,305
|
0.76%
|
27
|
|
.Alaska
|
686,293
|
681,111
|
5,182
|
0.76%
|
28
|
|
.Arizona
|
6,500,180
|
6,353,421
|
146,759
|
2.31%
|
2
|
|
.Arkansas
|
2,855,390
|
2,830,557
|
24,833
|
0.88%
|
22
|
|
.California
|
36,756,666
|
36,377,534
|
379,132
|
1.04%
|
17
|
|
.Colorado
|
4,939,456
|
4,842,770
|
96,686
|
2.00%
|
5
|
|
.Connecticut
|
3,501,252
|
3,489,868
|
11,384
|
0.33%
|
41
|
|
.Delaware
|
873,092
|
861,953
|
11,139
|
1.29%
|
13
|
|
.District of Columbia
|
591,833
|
587,868
|
3,965
|
0.67%
|
31
|
|
.Florida
|
18,328,340
|
18,199,526
|
128,814
|
0.71%
|
30
|
|
.Georgia
|
9,685,744
|
9,523,297
|
162,447
|
1.71%
|
9
|
|
.Hawaii
|
1,288,198
|
1,277,356
|
10,842
|
0.85%
|
24
|
|
.Idaho
|
1,523,816
|
1,496,145
|
27,671
|
1.85%
|
6
|
|
.Illinois
|
12,901,563
|
12,825,809
|
75,754
|
0.59%
|
35
|
|
.Indiana
|
6,376,792
|
6,335,862
|
40,930
|
0.65%
|
32
|
|
.Iowa
|
3,002,555
|
2,983,360
|
19,195
|
0.64%
|
33
|
|
.Kansas
|
2,802,134
|
2,777,382
|
24,752
|
0.89%
|
21
|
|
.Kentucky
|
4,269,245
|
4,236,308
|
32,937
|
0.78%
|
26
|
|
.Louisiana
|
4,410,796
|
4,373,310
|
37,486
|
0.86%
|
23
|
|
.Maine
|
1,316,456
|
1,315,398
|
1,058
|
0.08%
|
48
|
|
.Maryland
|
5,633,597
|
5,618,899
|
14,698
|
0.26%
|
44
|
|
.Massachusetts
|
6,497,967
|
6,467,915
|
30,052
|
0.46%
|
39
|
|
.Michigan
|
10,003,422
|
10,049,790
|
-46,368
|
-0.46%
|
51
|
|
.Minnesota
|
5,220,393
|
5,182,360
|
38,033
|
0.73%
|
29
|
|
.Mississippi
|
2,938,618
|
2,921,030
|
17,588
|
0.60%
|
34
|
|
.Missouri
|
5,911,605
|
5,878,399
|
33,206
|
0.56%
|
36
|
|
.Montana
|
967,440
|
956,624
|
10,816
|
1.13%
|
14
|
|
.Nebraska
|
1,783,432
|
1,769,473
|
13,959
|
0.79%
|
25
|
|
.Nevada
|
2,600,167
|
2,554,344
|
45,823
|
1.79%
|
8
|
|
.New Hampshire
|
1,315,809
|
1,312,256
|
3,553
|
0.27%
|
43
|
|
.New Jersey
|
8,682,661
|
8,653,126
|
29,535
|
0.34%
|
40
|
|
.New Mexico
|
1,984,356
|
1,964,402
|
19,954
|
1.02%
|
18
|
|
.New York
|
19,490,297
|
19,429,316
|
60,981
|
0.31%
|
42
|
|
.North Carolina
|
9,222,414
|
9,041,594
|
180,820
|
2.00%
|
4
|
|
.North Dakota
|
641,481
|
637,904
|
3,577
|
0.56%
|
37
|
|
.Ohio
|
11,485,910
|
11,477,641
|
8,269
|
0.07%
|
49
|
|
.Oklahoma
|
3,642,361
|
3,608,123
|
34,238
|
0.95%
|
19
|
|
.Oregon
|
3,790,060
|
3,735,549
|
54,511
|
1.46%
|
12
|
|
.Pennsylvania
|
12,448,279
|
12,419,930
|
28,349
|
0.23%
|
46
|
|
.Rhode Island
|
1,050,788
|
1,053,136
|
-2,348
|
-0.22%
|
50
|
|
.South Carolina
|
4,479,800
|
4,404,914
|
74,886
|
1.70%
|
10
|
|
.South Dakota
|
804,194
|
795,689
|
8,505
|
1.07%
|
16
|
|
.Tennessee
|
6,214,888
|
6,149,116
|
65,772
|
1.07%
|
15
|
|
.Texas
|
24,326,974
|
23,843,432
|
483,542
|
2.03%
|
3
|
|
.Utah
|
2,736,424
|
2,668,925
|
67,499
|
2.53%
|
1
|
|
.Vermont
|
621,270
|
620,748
|
522
|
0.08%
|
47
|
|
.Virginia
|
7,769,089
|
7,698,775
|
70,314
|
0.91%
|
20
|
|
.Washington
|
6,549,224
|
6,449,511
|
99,713
|
1.55%
|
11
|
|
.West Virginia
|
1,814,468
|
1,809,836
|
4,632
|
0.26%
|
45
|
|
.Wisconsin
|
5,627,967
|
5,598,893
|
29,074
|
0.52%
|
38
|
|
.Wyoming
|
532,668
|
523,252
|
9,416
|
1.80%
|
7
|
|
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
|
|