Deschutes Oregon’s fastest-growing county this decade

The United States has slowed to its lowest annual population growth in 80 years, up just 6 percent between 2010 and last year. But Deschutes County is pacing the state of Oregon, growing more than twice that fast, seeing growth of 21.7 percent in the decade so far, a new report says.

The report by 24/7 and reported by USA Today looks at the fastest-growing county in each state, from the April 2010 census to the July 1, 2018, population estimates released earlier this year.

Natural growth — births minus deaths — is the largest source of population growth for the nation as a whole, the report said. But most of the growth in the fastest-growing counties on the list comes from people moving in much faster than they move out.

Deschutes County grew from 157,730 in April 2010 to 191,996 residents in the July 2018 estimates, the report said. That’s also more than double the statewide population growth over that timeframe of 9.4 percent, as Oregon’s population reached 4.2 million residents, up about 400,000.

The report also looks at each of the fast-growing counties’ unemployment in 2018, which for Deschutes County was a 4.2% jobless rate, matching the state as a whole.