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 the St. George MSA with comparisons to Utah and the nation at large. This analysis features alternative approaches toward discussing, diagnosing and comparing the St. George MSA vs. Utah's population growth over 1969-2020. 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 the St. George MSA's annual population for the period 1969-2020 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 52-year period, the St. George MSA's population rose from 13,000 in 1969 to 184,913 in 2020, for a net gain of 171,913, or 1,322.4%.

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 Utah's annual population for the period 1969-2020 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 52-year period, Utah's population rose from 1,047,000 in 1969 to 3,249,879 in 2020, for a net gain of 2,202,879, or 210.4%.

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 the St. George MSA's population growth in a broader context by offering direct comparisons across time with Utah, 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.

The St. George MSA's overall population growth was 1,322.4% over 1969-2020 outpaced Utah's increase of 210.4%, and topped the United States' increase of 63.7%.

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

In 1969, the St. George MSA's population comprised 1.2% of Utah's population, while in 2020 it totaled 5.7% thereby yielding a +4.4% share-shift.

Figure 5 highlights the short-run pattern of the St. George MSA's population growth by tracking the year-to-year percent change over 1970-2020. The average annual percent change for the entire 51-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, the St. George MSA's population grew at an annual rate of 5.37% over 1970-2020. The St. George MSA posted its highest growth in 1986 (10.46%) and recorded its lowest growth in 2010 (0.95%). In 2020, the St. George MSA's population grew by 3.92%

Over the past five decades some msas 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 the St. George MSA's population since 1970, but this time they are displayed with average growth rates for the decade of the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, and 2020.

During the 1970s, the St. George MSA's annual population growth rate averaged 6.36%. It averaged 6.91% during the 1980s, 6.55% in the 1990s, 4.54% during the 2000s, 2.65% during the 2010s, and 3.92% in 2020.

Figure 7 compares the decade average growth rates for the St. George MSA noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for Utah and the nation. As the chart reveals, the St. George MSA's average annual population growth exceeded Utah's average during the 1970s (6.36% vs. 3.07%), outperformed Utah's average throughout the 1980s (6.91% vs. 1.88%), exceeded Utah's average in the 1990s (6.55% vs. 2.59%), surpassed Utah's average in the 2000s (4.54% vs. 2.14%), and registered above Utah's average over the 10 year period of the last decade, 2010-2019 (2.65% vs. 1.64%). In 2020, the St. George MSA's growth has outperformed Utah's average (3.92% vs. 1.45%).

Finally, relative to nationwide population growth trends, the St. George MSA surpassed the nation throughout the 1970s (6.36% vs. 1.10%), surpassed the nation in the 1980s (6.91% vs. 0.95%), topped the nation over the 1990s (6.55% vs. 1.23%), exceeded the nation throughout the 2000s (4.54% vs. 0.95%), and outperformed the nation over 2010-2019 (2.65% vs. 0.68%). In 2020, growth for the St. George MSA has outgained the national average (3.92% vs. 0.35%).