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 Essex County with comparisons to Massachusetts and the nation at large. This analysis features alternative approaches toward discussing, diagnosing and comparing Essex County vs. Massachusetts' 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 traces Essex County's annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Essex County's population rose from 633,984 in 1969 to 806,765 in 2022, for a net gain of 172,781, or 27.25%.

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 tracks Massachusetts' annual population for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Massachusetts' population rose from 5,650,000 in 1969 to 6,981,974 in 2022, for a net gain of 1,331,974, or 23.57%.

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 Essex County's population growth in a broader context by offering direct comparisons across time with Massachusetts, 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.

Essex County's overall population growth was 27.25% over 1969-2022 outpaced Massachusetts' increase of 23.57%, and fell below the United States' increase of 65.57%.

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

In 1969, Essex County's population comprised 11.22% of Massachusetts' population, while in 2022 it equated to 11.55% thereby yielding a +0.33% share-shift.

Figure 5 highlights the short-run pattern of Essex 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 illustrated 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, Essex County's population grew at an annual rate of 0.46% over 1970-2022. The county posted its highest growth in 1997 (1.20%) and recorded its lowest growth in 1974 (-2.28%). In 2022, Essex County's population declined by -0.09%

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 traces the annual percent change in Essex 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, Essex County's annual population growth rate averaged -0.01%. It averaged 0.55% throughout the 1980s, 0.72% during the 1990s, 0.28% in the 2000s, 0.88% during the 2010s, 0.01% thus far this decade (2020-2022).

Figure 7 compares the decade average growth rates for Essex County noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for Massachusetts and the nation. As the chart reveals, Essex County's average annual population growth recorded under Massachusetts' average throughout the 1970s (-0.01% vs. 0.17%), outperformed Massachusetts' average during the 1980s (0.55% vs. 0.46%), outperformed Massachusetts' average in the 1990s (0.72% vs. 0.49%), fell below Massachusetts' average throughout the 2000s (0.28% vs. 0.31%), registered above Massachusetts' average in the 2010s (0.88% vs. 0.74%), and outgained Massachusetts' average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (0.01% vs. -0.16%).

Finally, relative to nationwide population growth trends, Essex County fell below the nation in the 1970s (-0.01% vs. 1.10%), fell below the nation throughout the 1980s (0.55% vs. 0.95%), fell under the nation during the 1990s (0.72% vs. 1.23%), trailed the nation over the 2000s (0.28% vs. 0.95%), outpaced the nation in the 2010s (0.88% vs. 0.74%), and fell under the nation over 2020-2022 (0.01% vs. 0.31%).