Idaho's Rural Counties' Population Stabilizes

Apr 02, 01:49 AM

Current Headlines: By Carlson, Brad

Last year's Idaho population gains occurred in urban counties primarily, though rural counties stabilized and posted a small gain.

Idaho's statewide population increased 2.6 percent to nearly 1.47 million over a year earlier, U.S. Census Bureau estimates show.

According to a statement from Idaho Commerce and Labor, population estimates for the state's six largest counties - Ada, Canyon, Kootenai, Twin Falls, Bonneville and Bannock - increased 3.6 percent from mid-2005 to mid-2006. Growth in the other 38 counties was just 1 percent.

Ten rural counties lost population last year, the same number that saw population drop between mid-2004 and mid-2005. But the loss for all 10 totaled just 425 people, less than half the decline of a year earlier and the smallest total drop since the 2000 census.

"The population decline traditionally experienced in Idaho's rural areas is slowing," said Idaho Commerce & Labor Director Roger B. Madsen. "The economic expansion our larger cities have been enjoying is finally making its way to rural Idaho."

Minidoka County posted its first gain in population since the census, picking up 45 people from mid-2005 to mid-2006 after watching the number of residents fall by more than 1,100 the five previous years. The area was hit hard by the 2002 closure of the Simplot food processing plant but has experienced additional job growth since then with Gossner Cheese, Mulholland Positioning Systems and the Dutchmen recreational vehicle plant.

Valley County, home to the burgeoning Tamarack Resort, posted the highest growth rate at 6.3 percent followed by 5 percent in Canyon County, the rapidly growing western part of the state's largest metropolitan area.

Posting the biggest population loss at 1.6 percent was Adams County, which has been hit hard by the decline in the natural resource sector but has benefited from the explosive economic activity surrounding the Tamarack Resort in neighboring Valley County.

The estimates found that nine counties - Shoshone, Clearwater, Idaho, Benewah, Oneida, Washington, Adams, Boise and Valley - saw more people die than were born during the 12-month period, a likely indicator that younger people have been leaving these generally rural counties.

That trend is borne out by the increasing share of Idaho's annual population gain settling in the six biggest counties. Ada, Canyon, Kootenai, Bonneville, Bannock and Twin Falls counties claimed 84.5 percent of the population increase between mid-2005 and mid-2006.

That share has risen annually from under 80 percent between mid- 2002 and mid-2003 as the national recession was ending.

Sixty-two percent of Idahoans lived in those largest counties in mid-2006, up from 59 percent just six years earlier.

The migration's impact is also reflected in the age of Idaho residents. Idaho's median age increased 1.3 years since the census to 34.5 years in 2005. In the six largest counties the median age increased by an average of only 1 year while in the 17 smallest counties - those with less than 10,000 people - the median age was up an average of nearly 2.5 years.

(Copyright 2007 Dolan Media Newswires)

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