Demographic Analysis

Abstract

Planning for the future requires, to some extent, making projections based on past observations The U.S. Census Bureau provides, as a routine procedure, national and state-level population projections.^① State governments, often in cooperation with an external agency such as a university, do more geographically focused population analyses and projections. For example, the Urban Studies Institute at the University of Louisville, part of the Kentucky State Data Center (KSDC), is responsible for the periodical projection of future population trends at the state and county-level and for selected cities in Kentucky.^② Dealing with the uncertainty of future estimated births, deaths, and migration patterns, the institute offers three simultaneous population projections at low, middle and high growth rates. Additionally, the institute makes a variety of past and present population estimates available online. For more geographically detailed population projections and estimates, local government agencies, such as city planning departments or county planning commissions, engage in all sorts of methods to evaluate past and present demographic trends. ^③

Schedule of population and household projection releases by the U.S. Census Bureau: http://www.census.gov/ population/www/projections/projsched.html. State Population projections by the U.S. Census Bureau: http://www.census.gov/population/www/projections/stproj.html.

Urban Studies Institute at the University of Louisville: http://ksdc.louisville.edu/Projections2003.htm.

Boone County, Kentucky, official website: http://www.boonecountyky.org/.