Slow population growth projected in Kansas over next 50 years, study finds

Wichita State University is projecting Kansas will have 3.5 million in 50 years and become an overwhelmingly urbanized state.

The state population would grow 22 percent average by 2064, a paltry 0.4 percent annual population growth, as the gain of a handful of larger cities more than compensates for the continued population decline of nearly all rural counties, WSU’s Center for Economic Development and Business Research forecasts.

The United States Census Bureau estimated Kansas had a population of 2,904,021 in 2014.

The biggest winner, by far, in the projections is suburban Kansas City, which would move from 29 percent of the state’s population to 40 percent. Johnson County would nearly double in population to 1.1 million.

Sedgwick County would grow by almost a quarter, from 508,000 to 630,000, which is 0.5 percent growth per year, half as fast as in the previous 50 years.

This story was originally published February 3, 2016 at 9:35 AM with the headline "Slow population growth projected in Kansas over next 50 years, study finds."