County population estimates for 2007: interpreting the components of change

The Census Bureau's latest county population estimates paint an informative picture of population growth since Census 2000. As always, some counties gained population, some lost, and some didn't change much. It is important for you to look at changes in total county population, but some of the more interesting results won't be revealed until you dig a little deeper and examine the components of change. The top twenty counties account for 4.14 million people, or 65.3% of the state's estimated 6.35 million residents. Those same twenty counties only accounted for 64.3% of the state population as of Census 2000. In contrast, the bottom twenty dipped slightly from 276,342 to 271,489 people; that is, from 4.5% to a 4.3% share of the state's population. Looking at the changes in rank, you can see that the bottom twenty have remained relatively stable, while the top twenty have seen a good deal of movement.