Daviess County is growing faster than any other county in Kentucky west of I-65.
The latest U.S. Census report found that 103,312 people were living in the county and 60,183 in the city in 2020.
For Daviess County, that’s a 6.9% increase over the 96,656 the census counted here in 2010.
And that’s the best growth rate in western Kentucky.
Only three other counties west of I-65, which doesn’t include Warren, saw any population increase.
Hancock was up 6.2% to 9,095 people. The other two were Lyon with a 4.4% increase and McCracken with 3.5%. Warren County was up 18.2%.
“We had pretty steady growth,” Daviess Judge-Executive Al Mattingly said. “Hopefully, we’re doing the right things.”
Mayor Tom Watson said the city’s growth from 57,265 a decade ago is “great news. We’re building the county one person at a time. Younger people are scouting out places they want to live and then finding a job. That’s the reverse of how it was for my generation.”
He said the city and county have “a great lifestyle and amenities. We’re moving in the right direction. For a community without an interstate or a major university, we’re doing good.”
Candance Castlen Brake, president of the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce, said, “Having the strongest growth in western Kentucky is something to celebrate. And there are many contributing factors that have created this success.”
She said, “Our downtown placemaking initiative has created a sense of excitement well beyond our community’s borders. And we see project after project being announced. And a proliferation of entertainment-related small business open in the last two years. These projects will continue to net more growth.”
Brake said, “Talent retention and recruitment have changed. Jobs follow people. And the last 18 months have demonstrated that many people can work from wherever they are. That will continue to give us an edge as we move forward and our high quality of life that we enjoy here is making us even more competitive than we were pre-pandemic.”
McLean County’s population dropped 4% to 9,152; Muhlenberg’s dropped 1.9% to 24,275 and Ohio’s went down 0.3% to 23,772.
Diversity Daviess County’s population is slowly becoming more diverse.
In 2010, the county’s population was 91.18% white.
A decade later, it was 90.4%.
In the city, it was 86.4%
In May, a dozen local business leaders signed a full-page ad in the Messenger-Inquirer headlined “Inclusion: the ultimate bridge for Owensboro’s future.”
It said, among other things, “We believe in diversity because the things that make us the same and the things that make us different are both incredibly valuable assets. As a business community, we know that characteristics often used to divide people do not promote growth and progress for all.”
The county’s Black population is at 5.1%; Asian, 1.9%; Hispanic, 3.3%; and two or more races, 2.3%.
A total of 6,144 people — 3% of the population — was born in another country, the census says.
And 4.8% of us speak something other than English at home.
“We’re becoming more diverse,” Mattingly said. “Diversity is important in all forms.”
Businesses and industries looking for new locations value diversity, he said.
Daviess County, like the rest of the world, is aging.
In 2010, children under 18 made up 24.42% of the population, while those 65 and older accounted for 14.61%.
A decade later, 24.3% were under 18 and 17.3% were 65 and older.
Ninety percent of local residents have at least a high school education and 22.9% have a bachelor’s degree or higher.
The report says that 88.7% of homes have a computer and 82.7% have broadband.
Twelve percent have some type of disability and 7.4% don’t have health insurance.
There were 43,481 homes in the county last year with a median value of $133,600.
The report says there are 2,289 businesses in the county with 41,465 employees.
The total annual payroll was $1.7 billion.
The poverty rate was 15.4% in the county and 21.7% in the city.
Only 3% of Daviess Countians — 6,144 — have served in the military.
There were 7,837 veterans here in 2010 and 9,856 — 14.5% — in 2000.
The decline is associated with the loss of the World War II generation and many of those who served during the Korean and Vietnam wars.
By Keith Lawrence Messenger-Inquirer