Census: county added 1,000 residents

    Iowa?s big cities got even bigger, and its small towns got even smaller. That is what the 2010 Census indicates. The U.S. Census Bureau released information about Iowa?s 2010 census earlier this month. Washington County grew 5 percent, or about 1,000 residents from 20,670 to 21,704.

    The city of Washington added just over 200 residents, moving from 7,047 to 7,266, which is a 3 percent increase. Ainsworth experienced the highest percentage growth of any town in the county at 8 percent as it added 43 residents, for a population of 567. Riverside shot up 7 percent (928 to 993), while Kalona climbed 3 percent (2,293 to 2,363).

    Wellman, which grew at an astounding 28 percent clip from 1990 to 2000, increased by a modest 1 percent from 2000 to 2010. Wellman?s population went from 1,393 to 1,408.

    Brighton lost the most people of any town ? 35. Its population declined 5 percent from 687 to 652. Crawfordsville lost 31 people, going from 295 to 264, a decrease of 10 percent. West Chester dropped from 159 to 146 (8 percent) and Coppock fell from 57 to 47 (18 percent). 

    Neighboring Johnson County exploded 18 percent to about 131,000 residents. Johnson County experienced the second highest growth of all Iowa counties, but still well behind the county with the most growth, Dallas County (West Des Moines), which grew 62 percent.

    Two of Washington County?s neighbors, Iowa and Jefferson counties, both grew about 4 percent. Three of Washington?s County?s neighbors decreased in population. Henry County dropped a single percent, Louisa County dipped 7 percent and Keokuk County fell almost 8 percent.

    Those three counties were not alone. Exactly two-thirds of Iowa?s counties lost population in the last 10 years. Pocahontas County in northwest Iowa lost the largest percentage of residents at 16 percent. Five other counties near Pocahontas ? Kossuth, Calhoun, Sac, Ida and Greene ? lost about 10 percent each.

    The state?s urban centers, on the other hand, continued to grow. Dallas County grew by leaps and bounds, and the counties around it also made impressive gains. Polk County (Des Moines) grew 15 percent. Story County (Ames) and Madison County (Winterset) increased 12 percent, and Warren County (Indianola) jumped 14 percent.

    The state population rose 4 percent to just over 3 million persons. Although Iowa grew, it did not grow enough. The state will lose one of its five U.S. congressional seats when the districts are redrawn for the 2012 election. 

    Washington City Administrator Dave Plyman said population figures determine how much money the state gives the cities for road use. The state gives the cities $94 per person for roads. The additional funds that Washington will receive will not be a ?meaningful amount of money,? according to Plyman.

    ?Every little bit helps, but this won?t be enough money to buy a new fire truck or anything like that,? said Plyman. ?It is nice that we?re growing as opposed to shrinking.?

For more, see our Feb. 23 print edition.