BLOOMINGTON and INDIANAPOLIS — The U.S. Census Bureau released its first results from the 2020 U.S. Census on April 26 and revealed that Indiana added 301,726 residents since the last census was taken in 2010 — a 4.7 percent increase. Indiana’s official population count was 6,785,528 as of April 1, 2020.
Matt Kinghorn
This once-a-decade head-count shows that Indiana’s pace of population change this decade falls short of the state’s growth rate during the 2000s (6.6 percent growth) and the 1990s (9.7 percent) but exceeds the change seen in the 1980s (1 percent), said Matt Kinghorn, senior demographic analyst at the Indiana Business Research Center at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business.
The Indiana Business Research Center is part of a national network of state data centers and acts as Indiana’s official state representative to the Census Bureau on matters relating to the census and population estimates.
Kinghorn noted that Indiana’s population growth was strong enough to ensure that the state retained its nine seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. In all, seven of the nation’s 435 congressional seats will be reassigned based on the Census data. Neighboring Illinois, Michigan and Ohio are among the states to lose representation. Meanwhile, six states will pick up at least one seat, with Texas being the lone state to add two new representatives.
The U.S. population grew by 7.4 percent over the decade to reach 331.4 million. Most of the nation’s fastest growing states over the period are found in the West and the South led by Utah (18.4 percent), Idaho (17.3 percent) and Texas (15.9 percent). Among neighboring states, Indiana’s growth rate outpaced Illinois (-0.1 percent), Kentucky (3.8 percent), Ohio (2.3 percent) and Michigan (2.0 percent).
A total of three states lost population over the decade, with West Virginia showing the greatest decline at -3.2 percent. At 39.5 million residents, California is the most populous state in the country followed by Texas, Florida, New York and Pennsylvania. Indiana is the nation’s 17th most populous state.
Indiana’s allotment of U.S. representatives was 13 in 1920 but the state lost seats following the censuses of 1930, 1940, 1980 and 2000. Indiana has roughly 754,476 residents for each representative, up from 722,398 in 2010. The United States has an average of 761,169 people per representative in 2020.
Carol Rogers
The Census Bureau will issue several more data releases from the 2020 Census over the coming months. These releases will provide an in-depth look at the characteristics of the U.S. population in great geographic detail. These data and more will be released on the STATS Indiana website, which the IBRC administrates.
Kinghorn and Carol Rogers, IBRC interim co-director, are available to explain Indiana’s official census, pace of population change and other trends highlighted by this once-a-decade head-count. These include the state’s future allotment of U.S. representation, which is based Indiana’s population as compared to other states.
Kinghorn can be reached at kinghorn@indiana.edu. Rogers can be reached at rogersc@iupui.edu.