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 Mendocino County with comparisons to California and the nation at large. This analysis features alternative approaches toward discussing, diagnosing and comparing Mendocino County vs. California'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 traces Mendocino County's annual population for the period 1969-2020 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 52-year period, Mendocino County's population rose from 49,733 in 1969 to 86,061 in 2020, for a net gain of 36,328, or 73.0%.

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 California's annual population for the period 1969-2020 to illustrate population patterns over time. During this 52-year period, California's population rose from 19,711,000 in 1969 to 39,368,078 in 2020, for a net gain of 19,657,078, or 99.7%.

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

Mendocino County's overall population growth was 73.0% over 1969-2020 trailed California's increase of 99.7%, and outpaced the United States' increase of 63.7%.

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

In 1969, Mendocino County's population comprised 0.25% of California's population, while in 2020 it comprised 0.22% thereby yielding a -0.03% share-shift.

Figure 5 displays the short-run pattern of Mendocino County'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 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, Mendocino County's population grew at an annual rate of 1.09% over 1970-2020. The county recorded its highest growth in 1973 (4.85%) and posted its lowest growth in 2020 (-1.00%). In 2020, Mendocino County's population declined by -1.00%

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 depicts the annual percent change in Mendocino County'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, Mendocino County's annual population growth rate averaged 2.72%. It averaged 1.90% in the 1980s, 0.89% in the 1990s, 0.24% in the 2000s, -0.09% throughout the 2010s, and -1.00% in 2020.

Figure 7 compares the decade average growth rates for Mendocino County noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for California and the nation. As the chart reveals, Mendocino County's average annual population growth outpaced California's average throughout the 1970s (2.72% vs. 1.67%), fell below California's average throughout the 1980s (1.90% vs. 2.31%), trailed California's average during the 1990s (0.89% vs. 1.38%), lagged California's average in the 2000s (0.24% vs. 0.99%), and lagged California's average over the 10 year period of the last decade, 2010-2019 (-0.09% vs. 0.65%). In 2020, Mendocino County's growth has fell below California's average (-1.00% vs. -0.18%).

Finally, relative to nationwide population growth trends, Mendocino County surpassed the nation throughout the 1970s (2.72% vs. 1.10%), outgained the nation during the 1980s (1.90% vs. 0.95%), fell below the nation in the 1990s (0.89% vs. 1.23%), posted below the nation over the 2000s (0.24% vs. 0.95%), and lagged the nation over 2010-2019 (-0.09% vs. 0.68%). In 2020, growth for Mendocino County has trailed the national average (-1.00% vs. 0.35%).