BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana’s population has been growing over the last decade, but a new study shows that that growth is slowing down.
The study from the Indiana Business Research Center at Indiana University says 2021 saw Indiana’s slowed year for population growth since 2015. The state added 20,341 new residents last year.
The number of Hoosiers born and the number of Hoosiers who died were much closer together in 2021 compared to years past. Indiana saw a net growth of 690 people when the number of deaths is subtracted from the number of births.
“The primary cause of this slower growth was a sharp increase in the number of deaths in 2021 as the COVID-19 pandemic took a heavy toll,” said Matthew Kinghorn, senior demographer at the Indiana Business Research Center, to Inside Indiana Business. “At the same time, fertility rates in Indiana continued to decline, resulting in only 77,600 births last year — the state’s lowest annual tally on record dating back to the late 1960s.”
More than 19,000 people migrated to Indiana last year.
58 counties saw an increase in population with the biggest jump in the Indy metro. Boone County had the largest growth rate at 2.6-percent in the state and in the Indy Metro area. Hamilton County added the most new residents overall with over 7,700 people moving to Hamilton County.
Outside the Indy Metro, Parke County grew the most.
Lake County had more residents die than were born and when those numbers are put together Lake County saw the biggest “natural decline” in population in Indiana.
Marion County had the largest population decline overall with 5,670 residents moving out of the county in 2021.
