At 16.7% , Des Moines is the Midwest's major metro growth leader (Spencer: transplants, amusement park)

[atler8]

Continuing a trend already in place from the prior decade as the major metro population growth leader in the Midwest, metro Des Moines has once again outdone it's peers and exhibited more of a sunbelt-styled pace of population growth.

Speaking in percentage terms, the growth came in at 16.7% while numerically speaking, the growth total was over 101,000.


For a tad more info, take your pick from either of the 2 links below that essentially duplicate each other.

A major batch of more detailed 2020 Census info will be revealed in the late summer near the end of August or in early September but it's possible that additional small data releases will occur between now and then. The data cited here is just such a new release having occurred this month shortly after the national and state population data release of April.

http://https://www.dsmpartnership.co...midwest-metros

https://businessrecord.com/Content/D...s/-3/248/93343

[fezzador]

First link is broken.


Does that 101K account for the addition of Jasper County? Granted that should have been a long time coming but I believe that was just made official earlier this decade.



Wikipedia (I know, not the greatest source out there, but generally works in a pinch) shows a nearly 23% growth for the 2010s so my guess is that the links have included Jasper in the metro as if it were always a part of it, while Wikipedia's growth figures treat Jasper as a newly-added county.


Pretty cool to officially hit 700K. It sounds "bigger" than 500 or even 600K, like it's closing in on that magical 1M mark (which it should hit sometime between 2040 and 2045, using a fairly conservative 1.5% annual growth rate).

[NDak15]

Des Moines is growing but so much of the rest of Iowa seems to be shrinking in population. Maybe they're all moving to Des Moines.

[NORTY FLATZ]

I thought the hot-spot was Spencer....

[fezzador]

Originally Posted by NDak15

Des Moines is growing but so much of the rest of Iowa seems to be shrinking in population. Maybe they're all moving to Des Moines.

That is quite true - much of urban Iowa's growth is at the expense of rural Iowa. Nearly all the well-paying jobs, hospitals, and dining/entertainment are located in the larger urban centers, while the livelihoods of many a small town are hanging on by a thread.


That said, it's hardly a situation that's unique to Iowa. Even large, fast-growing Sun Belt cities such as Atlanta and Phoenix are taking in loads of people from small towns, but the difference is a significant portion of those cities' growth is due to copious amounts of national and international migration. Yes, Des Moines does get some transplants from around the country and even around the world, but not nearly to the same degree. Plus, Des Moines does not even come close to dominating the state (slightly over 20% of Iowans live in the general DSM area, and perhaps an additional 10% total live within a 60 mile radius. Many states have a dominant metro that comprises 50% or more of the state's population)

[fezzador]

Originally Posted by NORTY FLATZ

I thought the hot-spot was Spencer....

I suppose calling Spencer part of the Iowa Great Lakes is a bit of a stretch, but really it's a pretty disappointing area. Arnold's Park is little more than a tourist trap.

[IowanFarmer]

I love the Iowa Great Lakes. Arnold's Park the actual amusement park is kind of a tourist trap, but the area as a whole has a lot to offer.

[jmgg]

Originally Posted by IowanFarmer

I love the Iowa Great Lakes. Arnold's Park the actual amusement park is kind of a tourist trap, but the area as a whole has a lot to offer.

I agree with you (and with Fezzador on Arnold's Park itself being a tourist trap) on loving the Iowa Great Lakes. It has some of the few blue water lakes in the country. Deep and surprisingly clean yet. Great recreation lakes for boating, fishing, and because of how clean the water is, scuba diving.

In a state like Iowa that barely has ANY true lakes other than those created by damming up a creek or river, the Iowa Great Lakes is the gold standard.

As to the topic, the pattern for midwestern states having their population moving into a few large cities is a trend that I don't foresee ever slowing down. It's even more prevalent in states like Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota as fewer people can make a living on smaller farms and ranches. When these people leave, so does the businesses that supported them.

In South Dakota where I'm at, the only places showing any significant growth are areas of the Black Hills, the Sioux Falls metro, and the college town of Brookings. Most every other city is either somewhat stagnant or losing population. Away from any city of at least 10,000, towns are dying quickly. Yet, the overall population of the state is growing rapidly.

[NDak15]

Originally Posted by jmgg

I agree with you (and with Fezzador on Arnold's Park itself being a tourist trap) on loving the Iowa Great Lakes. It has some of the few blue water lakes in the country. Deep and surprisingly clean yet. Great recreation lakes for boating, fishing, and because of how clean the water is, scuba diving.

In a state like Iowa that barely has ANY true lakes other than those created by damming up a creek or river, the Iowa Great Lakes is the gold standard.

As to the topic, the pattern for midwestern states having their population moving into a few large cities is a trend that I don't foresee ever slowing down. It's even more prevalent in states like Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota as fewer people can make a living on smaller farms and ranches. When these people leave, so does the businesses that supported them.

In South Dakota where I'm at, the only places showing any significant growth are areas of the Black Hills, the Sioux Falls metro, and the college town of Brookings. Most every other city is either somewhat stagnant or losing population. Away from any city of at least 10,000, towns are dying quickly. Yet, the overall population of the state is growing rapidly.

North Dakota is the same story.

[atler8]

Originally Posted by NDak15

North Dakota is the same story.

Actually no, it's not. Your North Dakota is the ONLY Midwest state that is growing rapidly and stands well alone as the Midwestern growth leader.
North Dakota is found in 4th place among the national list of leading states in terms of it's percentage growth rate which, at 15.8 % for the just-ended decade, is the ONLY Midwestern state that is ranked among the 14 top growth states in percentage terms.
In comparison to it's southern neighbor, North Dakota's percentage rate of growth was significantly faster than the 8.9% recorded by South Dakota, which while 1.5% above the national growth rate of 7.4%, ranked as the 16th fastest grower.

Some context is needed which takes into account that the last census count national growth rate of 7.4% was the SLOWEST such decade growth percentage since the 1930's when the U.S. was in the grips of the Great Depression.
As such, South Dakota's rate which is 1.5% faster than the slow-growth national average is by no means a "rapidly growing" state. But rather the data shows instead that South Dakota is a slightly to modestly better than average performer in growth.

Restating the obvious as found via the data, North Dakota is the only state in the Midwest that grew rapidly in the just-concluded decade.

https://www.aarp.org/politics-societ...a-results.html

https://apnews.com/article/south-dak...462983d511a98c