ANDERSON – In 2010, Madison County's census count was 131,636. Five years later, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the county's population had dropped to 129,723.
The trend of a declining population also continued for the majority of area communities, the U.S. Census Bureau reported.
Despite the 1.4 percent drop, local officials believe Madison County is poised to see significant increases in the number of residents in future years.
The county's four largest communities — Anderson, Elwood, Alexandria and Pendleton — all experienced declines ranging from 0.8 to 2 percent over the past six years.
The estimated population in Anderson for 2015 was 55,305. That's a drop of 1.5 percent since the 2010 census, when the population was 56,129.
The 2000 census population for Anderson was 59,734, which was down significantly from 1970's peak count of 70,787 residents.
Anderson's decline in the 1980s and 1990s was more than 8 percent.
Rob Sparks, director of the Madison County Corporation for Economic Development, said Wednesday that the projections from 2010 had the population in the county and Anderson continuing a significant downward trend.
“We had already lost most of our jobs,” he said. “I think we have bottomed out and I see a reversal.”
Sparks said an Indiana University study is projecting a 700,000 population increase in the central Indiana region by 2050.
“If we position ourselves correctly, we could see a significant amount of growth over the next 35 years,” he said.
“We’re adding opportunities for jobs, working on quality-of-life issues and the school systems are showing improvement in graduation rates,” Sparks said. “Our housing market is strong, but the prices are still low enough that people can extend their buying power by locating in the county.”
Sparks said Madison County is working in conjunction with Hamilton County and Noblesville to develop the Interstate 69 corridor from Exit 205 (Noblesville) to Exit 241 (McGalliard Road) as a “corporate campus."
The goal is to add 50,000 jobs along the interstate corridor in the next 25 years.
“It’s a marketing concept,” Sparks said.
Greg Winkler, executive director of the Anderson Economic Development Department, agreed with the assessment that there will be significant population growth in the region over the next decades.
“As the I-69 corridor prospers, we all prosper,” he said. “Madison County is going to get a significant share of the population growth because of the county’s proximity to amenities of the metropolitan area.”
Another factor that will bring new residents to the county is the adding of travel lanes to I-69 by the state, Winkler said.
The housing market is very good currently, but there is a need for new housing stock, he said. It’s time to start building new houses and condominiums again.
“The northern migration is what you’ll see up the I-69 corridor,” Winkler said. “Large portions of Hamilton County are built-out along I-69 and the I-65 and U.S. 31 in Hamilton County are built out as well.
“We’re next,” he said.
Of the four biggest communities in the county, Pendleton experienced a decline in population of eight-tenths of a percent for the 2015 census estimate to 4,219. The 2010 census number was 4,253.
Alexandria experienced the biggest decline over the past six years of 2 percent to an estimated population of 5,047. The city had a 2010 population of 5,145.
Elwood’s population showed a decline of 1.8 percent from a 2010 population of 8,614 to a 2015 estimate of 8,455.