U.S. Census Bureau's 2022 population projections: Iowa's 6th smallest county continues to lose residents

 

95.3% white Wayne County's population has decreased 63% since its 1900 peak of 17,491.  

 

Sources:  Wikipedia (1850-2020), U.S. Census Bureau (2022)

Des Moines Register, 4/26/2019

The town of Humeston, Ia., straddles Highway 65 in the northwestern corner of Wayne County, less than a 30-minute drive from the Missouri border. Its population peaked in the 1920s at 1,214 people. 

Today, the southern Iowa town has only 494 people. 

“A lot of kids, when they graduate, they want to get out and see the world,” David Dotts, of the Wayne County Board of Supervisors, said. It’s one of the many explanations for the population loss. 

Like nearly all of the other incorporated towns in Wayne County — except for Corydon, the county seat — Humeston has seen a consistent decline in its population since the early 1900s.

And the hits just keep on comin'.  The population of Humeston in 2020:  465, a 6% decrease.

Related post:

Adams County.  (4/10/2023)

Audubon County.  (4/10/2023)

Osceola County.  (4/11/2023)

Ringgold County.  (4/10/2023)

Taylor County.  (4/11/2023)