Imperial’s census population within four of last count

    Imperial won’t get to brag that the community gained population in the latest census but they can say they were awfully close.
    Census figures released Aug. 12 put the population of Imperial at 2,068—just four people short of the 2010 count of 2,071.
    The fact Imperial’s population remained steady bucked a trend of declining population in some communities throughout southwest Nebraska.
    Imperial’s Community Development Director Tyler Pribbeno said obviously city officials were hoping the census would show growth for Imperial.
    On the bright side, he was happy to see that Imperial’s population remained steady versus the drastic drop seen in other rural areas.
    “It shows that people want to live here,” he said. Plus, people continue to move back to Imperial.
    He suspected a lack of housing stock in Imperial the past several years may have also been a factor hampering growth in the 2020 census.
    In addition, he noted the census was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic so there’s always going to be some question of just how accurate the census was.
    The census also showed population counts for Wauneta and Lamar. However, the census no longer breaks out the count for unincorporated communities, like Champion and Enders.
    Wauneta showed a 4.9% loss in population over the past 10 years. The 2020 count puts Wauneta’s population at 549 compared to 577 in 2010.
    Lamar’s population went up in 2020, with a gain of five people, bringing the total to 28 residents.
    Grant, Madrid and Hayes Center showed positive growth in the 2020 count.
    Grant grew 2.7% to 1,197, up from 1,165 in 2010. Madrid was up 4.8% to 242 from 231. Hayes Center was up 4.7% to 224 from 214. Ogallala grew by 3%, or 114, taking their population to 4,878.
    Other neighboring communities didn’t fare quite as well.
    Benkelman suffered a double-digit decline of 13.9%, losing 132 people over the last 10 years. That took their population from 953 in 2010 to 821 in 2020.
    Palisade showed a loss of 16.2% loss, going from 351 people to 294. Culbertson fell 10.3 % to 534, Stratton fell 9.6% to 310 and Trenton fell 7.9% to 516.
County-wide trends troubling
    Those declines show a troubling county-wide trend for southwest Nebraska. All six of the counties showed a loss in population—some minor, some rather significant.
    Perkins, Keith and Chase Counties suffered only single-digit percentage losses while Dundy, Hayes and Hitchcock suffered double-digit percentage drops.
    Keith County fared the best of the six, losing just 33 people for a 0.39% loss. Population stands at 8,335.
    Chase County was next, with a 1.84% loss, totalling 73 people, bringing their population to 3,893.
     Perkins County followed with a 3.77% loss of residents amounting to 112 people over the last 10 years. County populations now stands at 2,858.
    Hitchcock County lost 292 residents, representing a population loss of 10.04%. Current population stands at 2,616.
    Hayes County started the dicennial with just 967 residents and finished with 856. That loss of 111 people represented a 11.48% decline.
    Dundy County suffered the largest loss of residents, both in terms of people and percentage of population.
    In the last 10 years, Dundy County has seen its population decline by 354 people, going from 2,008 to 1,654, or a loss of 17.62%
    Other notable population  counts include Sidney, which recovered some following a big exodus after the sale of Cabelas, and North Platte, where the railroad significantly reduced staffing.
    Sidney has rebounded but is still 5% (354) shy of the 2010 census with current population at 6,410.
    North Platte saw a 5.4% decline, which represented a loss  of 1,343 people. Their population now stands at 23,390.
    McCook lost 242 people, or 3.3%, bringing their population to 7,446.
Other significant data
    The U.S. Census Bureau released its first official population counts for all 50 states Aug. 12. This will allow each state to begin the re-districting process required after each  decade’s census.
    In Nebraska, population grew 7.4% over the last 10 years, keeping up with the national rate of growth. Total population in the state now stands at 1,961,504.
    Nebraska three largest counties which encompass the Lincoln-Omaha areas—Lancaster, Douglas and Sarpy—contain 56% of the state’s entire population.
    In 1950, that number stood at just 31.4%.
    Their continual growth suggests those three counties will hold 29 of the state’s 49 seats in the Unicameral after redistricting is completed.
    At the federal level, Nebraska will hold on to all three of its Congressional seats.
    Staff at the University of Nebraka-Omaha’s Center for Public Affairs Research crunches most of the data for the census.
    As they get additional data from the Census Bureau, they will release more detailed demographic data, along with socioeconomic data.
    Nebraska data can be found online by searching for the UNO Center for Public Affairs Research.