County population up 5 percent since 2000

Thursday, February 17, 2011

GREENCASTLE -- The Putnam County population grew by 5.4 percent in the last 10 years, falling slightly below the state's percent change of 6.63 percent.

The State of Indiana recently released an extract of its United States Census 2010 redistricting data, which reveals the county has seen a population increase of 1,944 since the 2000 Census.

While the county as a whole has grown, only five of 13 townships have actually experience population growth: Cloverdale, Floyd, Greencastle, Monroe and Warren.

Of these, Warren and Floyd townships have seen the most significant growth, with Warren's population up 1,141 (40.93 percent) and Floyd's up 838 (26.41 percent).

The report is a far cry from the previous 10 years. Putnam County saw a population increase of 18.82 perecent in the 1990s, nearly doubling the state's average of 9.67 percent.

However, growth still seems to be occurring in and around Greencastle, Heritage Lake and Cloverdale, the county's three most populous areas.

Three of the county's four school districts also saw an increase in overall population.

The South Putnam School district, which includes Jefferson, Marion, Warren and Washington townships, is up 693 (7.74 percent) over 2000. The large gain in Warren Township made of for mild to moderate population loss in the other three townships.

Likewise, the 638 population increase (6.66 percent) in the North Putnam district is paced by the gain of 838 in Floyd Township. Elsewhere in the district, only Monroe Township experienced gain, with an increase of 114 (7.84 percent).

The Greencastle school district is up 531 (3.89 percent), with much of this growth coming in the City of Greencastle itself.

While Cloverdale Township saw a mild population increase of 82 (2.1 percent), the Cloverdale Community School District actually shrank by 130. This was due to a population loss in Owen County's Jackson Township, one of three Owen townships the corporation serves.

Among incorporated areas, only Greencastle, Bainbridge and Russellville experienced population growth in the last 10 years.

Greencastle's population has now topped the 10,000 mark 10,326, up 446 (4.51 percent) since 2000.

Russellville grew by 18 people (5.29 percent) to 358, and Bainbridge is up three (0.4 percent) to 746.

While data is unavailable for conservancy districts from the previous two censuses, Clear Creek Conservancy (Heritage Lake) reports a count of 2,880, contributing to the increase in Floyd Township overall.

Among its bordering counties, Putnam was only outpaced by Hendricks County, commonly considered one of the fastest growing counties in the nation. The Hendricks population is up 39.7 percent.

Clay, Montgomery, Morgan and Parke counties all saw small gains, while Owen County's population decreased by 1 percent.

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  • Prime example of why you can't trust government figures.County population increase in 10 years reportedly up 1,944 people since 2000. Now add up the numbers: Warren (+ 1141), Floyd (+838) equals +1979 people. Why the discrepancy? Is simple math no longer simple anymore?

    -- Posted by exhoosier2 on Thu, Feb 17, 2011, at 7:30 AM
  • The easy explanation would be that Warren & Floyd are up, and the "discrepancy" in the numbers comes from losses in other townships.

    -- Posted by tlb46135 on Thu, Feb 17, 2011, at 8:30 AM
  • My bad. The chart with all the numbers wasn't attached when I first browsed the story. Now I've got to get out the pencil and scratch pad.

    -- Posted by exhoosier2 on Thu, Feb 17, 2011, at 1:14 PM
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