As Indiana’s population inches up, it’s cities like Bloomington that are driving growth.
That’s according to an analysis of the most recent census data by the Indiana Business Research Center at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.
The center’s analysis showed that the 44 counties belonging to a metropolitan area accounted for a combined 78 percent of the state’s total population and, as a group, grew at a 0.5 percent rate in 2015.
The other 48 counties had a combined population loss of 2,937 from 2014 to 2015.
Matthew Kinghorn, a demographer at the Indiana Business Research Center, said that’s reflective of a trend that started even before the Great Recession, with metropolitan areas driving growth and mid-sized and rural communities seeing a loss in population.
“There’s not a whole lot drawing new residents to the mid-sized and rural communities these days,” Kinghorn said. “Young adults move away for college and employment opportunities, they aren’t returning, and nobody’s coming back in their place.”
And that trend has held true for Monroe County and surrounding counties.
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