Lake County again posted the largest population loss in Indiana last year, but the rate of decline slowed down in what was heralded as a move in the right direction.
The second largest county in the state now has 490,228 residents, or about 1,175 fewer people than in 2013, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. The drop of 0.2 percent in 2014 was lower than Lake County's average decline of 1,550 fewer residents in each of the past three years.
More people moved out of Lake County than moved in last year, reflecting a national slowdown of migration from big cities like Chicago to surrounding counties, said Matt Kinghorn, a demographer with the Indiana Business Research Center. About 1,977 more people moved out of Lake County last year than moved in.
"A slower flow from urban to suburban, from Cook County into Lake County, could have something to do with it," he said. "It's definitely a good sign that the decline is getting smaller."
Population growth slowed across Indiana in 2014, according to U.S. Census figures that the Indiana Business Research Center crunched.
The state gained about 26,140 more residents last year, a 0.4 percent increase over 2013. The cooling off extended to Porter County, which had been one of the fastest-growing counties in Indiana during the 2000s. The ninth largest county in Indiana averaged 1,754 more residents between 2000 and 2010, but only added 650 more people last year, Kinghorn said.
"It's not just a Northwest Indiana trend," Kinghorn said. "There's been slower movement across the country since the Great Repression."
LaPorte County bucked the national trend, adding an estimated 188 residents in its second straight year of population growth.
Northwest Indiana and the rest of the state would benefit from an improved economy and revved-up home sales, Kinghorn said.
"Indiana saw an uptick in population in 2014, but we took a step back with slower growth," he said. "We need a few years of consistent economic growth, and more people thinking about buying a house or thinking about moving up into a larger house."
The annual numbers are estimates that are subject to revision and aren't as accurate at the Census figures released every 10 years, which are actual counts.