Suburban counties in Kentucky continued to grow rapidly over the past four years, while rural counties in Eastern and Western Kentucky faltered, according to population estimates released yesterday by the U.S. Census Bureau.
"The trends are continuing," said Ron Crouch, head of the Kentucky State Data Center at the University of Louisville. "We're becoming a more urbanized society, and areas along interstates are the ones that are benefiting. Areas off the interstates are the ones that are struggling."
Overall, Kentucky's population grew by 2.4 percent between 2000 and 2004 to 4,145,922, an increase of 96,929.
The largest percentage increases were in counties within commuting distance of Louis-ville, Lexington and Cincinnati.
Boone County added the most people -- 14,346 -- pushing its population to 101,354, and becoming the fourth Kentucky County past 100,000.
"What's happening in Boone County is amazing, because this is not just population growth," Boone County Judge-Executive Gary Moore said. "What's happening here is the creation of quality, high-paying jobs, and the people who are moving in here are coming to take those jobs."
Moore attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday for the North American headquarters of Ticona, which is moving from New Jersey to Boone County and bringing 150 jobs.
Because of the rapid growth, Moore said, new housing developments are sprouting up almost daily as state highways become more congested and schools deal with overcrowding.
Crouch said the growth in Northern Kentucky is the result of an economy that is growing jobs in the area.
He said population declines in rural counties also are largely the result of economic factors, especially in the heavily agricultural sections of Western Kentucky, where Fulton (4.5 percent) and Crittenden (4.3 percent) suffered the biggest losses.
Among agricultural counties, Christian County had the largest numerical loss, 1,625 people.
"As farms get bigger and get more automated, you need fewer people to work on the farms," Crouch said. "That's resulted in people moving to more suburban counties."
Eastern Kentucky counties losing the largest percentage of population over the four-year period include Harlan, 3.3 percent; Leslie, 2.8; Carter, Letcher and Lewis, 2.2 percent; and Pike, 2.1.
Numerically, Pike County had the largest population loss in the eastern coal fields over the period with a decline of 1,459.
