I appreciate the update on population numbers (Is Bucktooth & Bowlcut still in charge?);
This 4,000-person increase over the past 12 months means the City is growing at a rate of 2.2 percent. In 2017, the City grew by 4,700 persons, or a 2.6 percent growth rate. Since January 1, 2000, Sioux Falls has seen a 63,000-person increase in our population. The most recent U.S. Census Bureau estimate from July 2017 showed a 2,500-person increase, or a 1.45 percent increase. By 2025, the population of Sioux Falls is projected to be 202,000.
How about a breakdown of those numbers? How many are newborns to existing Sioux Falls residents? I bet about HALF. How many are retirees? People from other SD small towns or cities? How many from out of state? From another country? While I appreciate the update, you really need to break these numbers down for us, and how many of these new residents are actually employable and working (over 16)?
4,000 is probably correct if you count pets and illegal immigrants.
If half are newborns, that bodes well for us. That means a significant portion, likely a majority, of the Sioux Falls population is in child-bearing years. This is good because that means we have a lot of people in the city who are also considered part of the labor force, and with low unemployment, that means we have a pretty strong tax-base of income earners who are tax-payers.
Retirees are better as they don’t take jobs away from this group, but often are spenders.
I mean, I get the concern you’re alluding to here a little bit: if the majority if new Sioux Falls residents are either infants or retirees, your dating pool remains relatively stagnant. However, I’ll submit growth, especially young growth, is good.
PEH, thanks for your in depth analysis, but I was just curious. City Hall always likes to give us this round number that they pulled from their butts but never breakdown how they came up with the number or a demographic breakdown. If you are going to give us the information, give it all to us. It’s the same with the building permits, they never break it down between private, public and non-profit.
Estimates based on housing unit increase and average household size. I.E. building permit data – pretty simple. Census bureau does estimates on the same basis.
Ruf, I would like to thank you also for that in-depth analysis. But no one seems to have an answer to my question, what are the demographics?
Just how would the city provide this data without a city wide census?
“Welcome to Sioux Falls, will you please fill out this survey and place yourself in a category so our liberals can decide if they should hate you. ”
If the city asked for that census, would you provide another kooky conspiracy theory why the city was doing it?
Either way, another subject to bitchblog about.
So where did the 4,000 number come from then? Apparently from some convoluted formula about the square footage of houses. If you are going to tell us that the city grown by this number, please back up your numbers with real data, otherwise, please STFU.
Perhaps 4,000 more if now counting schitzophrenic personalities?
Maybe these numbers come from the same place that the “Once in a 350 year rainfall” comment came from…
I’m willing to guess the EXACT same place.
As we have learned in the past, the number has to grow so the city can sell more bonds.
It seems logical for the city to estimate population growth based on known factors – they have the building permit data for the number of single family units, multifamily units, etc., and based on historical data for how many people live in those types of homes, you should be able to estimate pretty close the number, but as ljl says, there’s really no way for the city to know more detailed information about the demographics without sending out a survey of some sort or stalking the newcomers somehow. If you have a way to get those demographics legally, please enlighten us.
Doesn’t the city have internal data on water hook ups? Can’t they get gas and electrical meter data from the utility companies? I think they would be cooperative. This would seem a better way to estimate changes in population than the average square footage of residential housing, which could vary significantly between different demographic and income groups.
SO – That would make sense, wouldn’t it? That’s my point really, if you are going to tell us we grew by 4,000, give me the REAL data to back it up, or don’t say anything. It’s like the CVB used to do (not much anymore) about the economic impact of certain events. As I have mentioned to people, sales tax revenue and lodging has continued to decline ever since we opened the Denty. Why is that?