Omaha, NE – The Census Bureau released its summary of state population estimates Wednesday.
David Drozd, Research Coordinator at UNO's Center for Public Affairs Research, says the data covers the state from April 2010, when the census was taken, through July 1st of this year.
He says Nebraska has had a fairly strong growth year, though not as strong as he thought it would be. Drozd says the reasons for slower growth may include the lower birthrates in the state and a slowdown in international immigration.
"In the one year prior, Nebraska grew by about 17,500 people and in this most current year, only about 12,500. So it was about 5,000 less. There's a variety of reasons why that might be but we are still doing really well compared to the growth rate of the US as we are pretty much even to the overall national growth rate."
Drozd says the population data is used to determine crime rates and birthrates. Additionally, he says federal funds are distributed based upon population totals, which demonstrate need.
Next March, the Census bureau will release county data for each state.