Bloomington has lost population since 2010. That’s based on fresh 2020 numbers released by the US Census Bureau around 1 p.m. on Thursday.
In 2020, Bloomington’s census was 79,168, which is 1,237 fewer than the 80,405 Bloomington residents who were counted ten years ago. That’s a 1.5-percent loss in population over the last decade.
Based on initial inquiries by The B Square to local experts, the possibility that Bloomington’s numbers reflect an undercount of Indiana University students, because of the pandemic, is a leading theory for Bloomington’s drop.
For Monroe County overall, Thursday’s news was not quite as bleak. The number of Monroe County residents counted by the US Census in 2020 was 139,718, or about 1.3 percent more than the 137,974 who were counted in 2010.
Bloomington and Monroe County’s trends fall outside the growth of the Indianapolis metro area. Overall, Indiana showed a roughly 4.7 percent growth in population over the last ten years.
Indiana’s total population in 2020 was measured at 6,785,528, compared to 6,483,802 in 2010. Continue reading “US Census 2020: Bloomington population down 1.5%, Monroe County up 1.3%, Indiana up 4.7%”