New numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau show that a few more people moved into Kansas and Missouri between 2008 to 2009 than moved out. Kansas gained 13,600, Missouri added about 11,000.
A sigh of relief rather than standing applause is the appropriate response. We did do better than some: the Middle West as a region lost 62,000 in that year’s time. Basically, however, the region just held its own.
The Census Bureau also tells us where the growth occurred. In Missouri, Branson flourished. In Kansas, more immigrants poured into southwest to go to work in the meat packing plants. Riley County grew because Fort Riley added still more GIs. And Johnson County continued to add people because its economy is doing fine.
Needless to say, small rural counties such as Allen, Linn and Woodson continue to shrink.
What is more important than the numbers is who the people are. When any state’s population stays stable from year to year, that means the average age is increasing and the younger workers are leaving. Out-migration is something that the mobile young do. Older folks tend to stay put.
The census report has implications state government should heed. More old Kansans means that outlays for nursing home and assisted living care from the Medicaid budget will increase faster than general expenses. If there is good budget news in the numbers it may be that the number of children in school will decline.
The message to the Midwest in general and Kansas in particular is to face the facts as they are. Economic centers such as Johnson County will continue to do well. The state should do what it can to foster more of them. Outside those centers, communities like Iola must focus on quality-of-life attractions to draw people in and keep those who are here glad they are.
— Emerson Lynn, jr.
P.S. If that last suggestion sounded like an advertisement for the Bowlus Fine Arts Center, we’ve communicated.
