By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
Adams County was among eight counties in the 11-county Northeastern Indiana region which showed population growth in the period of 2022-2023, according to estimated figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau.
In the designated period, Adams County added 137 residents, boosting the county’s total population of 36,151 in 2022 to 36,288 in 2023.
That was an increase of 0.4%.
Also showing increases were Wells, Allen, DeKalb, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben and Whitley counties.
Huntington, Kosciusko, and Wabash had decreases.
Wells and DeKalb counties had the largest increases, 0.9% each.
Wells went from 28,298 residents to 28,555, a rise of 257, while DeKalb’s increase was 385 residents, going from 43,813 to 44,198.
The largest numbers came in Allen County, which added 2,901 people, 391,644 to 39,545, a rise of 0.7%.
Whitley had an increase of 0.5%, an addition of 165 residents taking the total population from 34,577 to 34,742.
Both Noble and Steuben counties were like Adams, with an 0.4% increase in population. Noble added 196 residents, going from 47,234 to 47,430, while Steuben added 145 people, going from 34,772 to 34,917.
LaGrange added 53 residents, boosting its population from 40,854 to 40,907, a slight increase of 0.1%.
Kosciusko’s population fell 0.2%, 80,564 to 80,364, 200 fewer people.
Huntington County’s falloff was 0.1%, a loss of 19 residents, taking its 36,800 in 2022 to 36,781 in 2023.
The dropoff of 172 residents in Wabash County amounted to 0.6%, 30,842 to 30,670.
According to a story in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, Allen County grew by more than 9,000 residents from 2020 to 2023 – a 2.4% increase – ranking the county as the ninth in terms of the most growth in the state’s 92 counties.
Allen County ranked as the 15th-fastest-growing county in Indiana for the one-year period, 2022-2023.
Indiana’s population increased by 0.4% from 2022 to 2023 and by 1.1% from 2020 to last year.