Attracting and retaining people to live, work, raise a family, and retire underlies the economic vitality of any region. Population growth is both a cause--and a consequence--of economic growth. Patterns of population growth and change reflect differences among regions to attract and retain people both as producers and consumers in their economy.

The following graphs offer a broad overview of trends in the pattern of population growth and change of Waupaca County with comparisons to Wisconsin and the nation at large. This analysis features alternative approaches toward discussing, diagnosing and comparing Waupaca County vs. Wisconsin's population growth over 1969-2022. The data used are those compiled by the Regional Income and Product Divisions of the Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce.

Figure 1 tracks Waupaca County's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Waupaca County's population rose from 38,238 in 1969 to 51,488 in 2022, for a net gain of 13,250, or 34.65%.

NOTE: The county and state population totals reported by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) are from the Bureau of Census midyear (July 1) estimates. These estimates may differ from those prepared independently in some states by various agencies and/or universities.

Figure 2 traces Wisconsin's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Wisconsin's population rose from 4,378,000 in 1969 to 5,892,539 in 2022, for a net gain of 1,514,539, or 34.59%.

NOTE: The county and state population totals reported by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) are from the Bureau of Census midyear (July 1) estimates. These estimates may differ from those prepared independently in some states by various agencies and/or universities.

Figure 3 shows Waupaca County's population growth in a broader context by offering direct comparisons across time with Wisconsin, the United States. The growth indices shown here express each region's population in 1969 as a base figure of 100, and the populations in later years as a percentage of the 1969 base figure. This method allows for more direct comparison of differences in population growth between regions that may differ vastly in size.

Waupaca County's overall population growth was 34.65% over 1969-2022 outpaced Wisconsin's increase of 34.59%, and fell below the United States' increase of 65.57%.

Another interesting and insightful way of highlighting the population growth of Waupaca County is to trace its individual percentage contributions to Wisconsin's statewide population over time, as shown in Figure 4. A rising share means a region's population grew faster, or declined less, than Wisconsin's population, while a declining share shows it grew more slowly.

In 1969, Waupaca County's population comprised 0.87% of Wisconsin's population, while in 2022 it totaled 0.87% thereby yielding a +0.00% share-shift.

Figure 5 shows the short-run pattern of Waupaca County's population growth by tracking the year-to-year percent change over 1970-2022. The average annual percent change for the entire 53-year period is also traced on this chart to provide a benchmark for gauging periods of relative high--and relative low--growth against the backdrop of the long-term average.

On average, Waupaca County's population grew at an annual rate of 0.57% over 1970-2022. The county recorded its highest growth in 1979 (2.35%) and recorded its lowest growth in 2022 (-0.97%). In 2022, Waupaca County's population declined by -0.97%

Over the past five decades some counties have experienced extreme swings in growth, and often such swings have tended to coincide with the decades themselves. Figure 6 again illustrates the annual percent change in Waupaca County's population since 1970, but this time they are displayed with average growth rates for the decade of the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020-2022.

During the 1970s, Waupaca County's annual population growth rate averaged 1.03%. It averaged 0.80% during the 1980s, 1.14% throughout the 1990s, 0.20% during the 2000s, -0.11% throughout the 2010s, -0.22% thus far this decade (2020-2022).

Figure 7 compares the decade average growth rates for Waupaca County noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for Wisconsin and the nation. As the chart reveals, Waupaca County's average annual population growth registered above Wisconsin's average in the 1970s (1.03% vs. 0.64%), led Wisconsin's average in the 1980s (0.80% vs. 0.40%), exceeded Wisconsin's average in the 1990s (1.14% vs. 0.94%), lagged Wisconsin's average throughout the 2000s (0.20% vs. 0.61%), trailed Wisconsin's average in the 2010s (-0.11% vs. 0.37%), and posted below Wisconsin's average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (-0.22% vs. 0.07%).

Finally, relative to nationwide population growth trends, Waupaca County fell under the nation during the 1970s (1.03% vs. 1.10%), recorded underneath the nation in the 1980s (0.80% vs. 0.95%), lagged the nation during the 1990s (1.14% vs. 1.23%), lagged the nation in the 2000s (0.20% vs. 0.95%), trailed the nation in the 2010s (-0.11% vs. 0.74%), and lagged the nation over 2020-2022 (-0.22% vs. 0.31%).