New data released on population of Iowa’s counties

A central Iowa county continues to be among the fastest growing counties in the nation, while 66 of the 99 counties have lost population since 2010.

New 2018 information from the State Data Center shows Dallas County is the eighth fastest growing county in the nation. Dallas County grew by 36 percent since 2010, and its growth is part of the overall trend where the Des Moines metro area has grown by 15 percent. The fastest growing counties behind Dallas are Johnson at nearly 16 percent and Polk at 13 percent. More than half of the state’s population lives in one of ten counties — all of which are in a metropolitan area. The Iowa City and Ames metro areas were right behind the others in growth at 13-point-six percent; and nine-point-six percent.

Clinton County has lost the most residents since 2010 at 25-hundred-99 people. Emmett County declined at the fastest rate, losing 10-point-two percent of its population, while Audubon County was right behind — losing 10 percent of its population. Adams County has the smallest population in the state at 36-hundred-45. That compares to the state’s largest county, Polk, which has a population of more than 487-thousand. Twenty-five counties have populations below ten-thousand.

Looking at Cerro Gordo and the eight surrounding counties, the total estimated population dropped 627 people from 135,640 in July 2017 to 135,013 in July 2018. When compared to the 2010 Census, the area lost a total of 4890 people. All the counties in our listening area did not see a population increase according to the estimates. Cerro Gordo County lost 350 people down to 42,647. That’s down 1504 compared to the 2010 Census number of 44,151

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