Tag Archives: urban

Idaho Population Shift from Rural to Urban Counties Continued in 2018

In-Migration Accounted for 73 Percent of Idaho’s Population Increase

Idaho’s population continued to become more urbanized from mid-2017 to mid-2018, with nearly 73 percent of the growth coming from outside the state, newly released data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows. The data provides additional detail at the county level to the January release that showed Idaho’s 2.1 percent population increase tied with Nevada as the fastest-growing state in the nation.

The Boise Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) population grew by 2.9 percent – the eighth fastest among the nation’s 383 other MSAs. The five counties that comprise the Boise MSA – Ada, Boise, Canyon, Gem and Owyhee counties – increased by 20,346 people accounting for 58 percent of the state’s total increase of 35,304. The concentration of more than half of Idaho’s growth in the Boise MSA typifies the continued steady shift toward urbanization of the state’s population from rural to urban counties.

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Job Growth Struggles in Rural Idaho

Idaho’s economic recovery through February 2015 generated 13,000 more jobs than were lost – 27 percent more, while payrolls increased  20 percent – $698 million in goods production and $1.7 billion in services.

Idaho’s recovery from the recession took hold most strongly in the Boise metropolitan area while it took two more years for the four other metro areas to see marked job growth in 2013.

Even rural communities posted job growth early on, but once the momentum shifted to the urban parts of the state in 2013, rural job growth slowed after a summer uptick in 2014.

Using average wages for 2010, Idaho’s job loss in the recession totaled $1.5 billion from goods production and $424 million from services.

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Idaho Experiences Post-Recession Job Growth

Idaho’s post-recession job growth gained steam during the past two years, with the recovery concentrated in the state’s 11 metropolitan counties.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates the state lost over 50,000 jobs from 2007 to 2010, two-thirds from the traditionally better-paying goods production sector. Idaho’s 33 rural counties – those not part of a federally designated metropolitan statistical area – lost a slightly higher proportion of jobs than urban counties, but those same rural counties hung on to many more manufacturing jobs than metro areas.

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