In 2000, the region’s population numbered 471,600.
Since 1980, the region’s population has declined by 31,000. However, the rate of decline has slowed from 5 percent (1980-1990) to 1.3 percent (1990-2000). In the 1980s, a population loss of 25,000 occurred. The 1990s experienced a more modest loss of 6,000.
In the past 20 years, the region’s population, as a proportion of the state population, has decreased gradually from 4.2 percent in 1980 to 3.8 percent in 2000.
Cambria County showed the greatest population loss of any county in the region. Between 1990 and 2000, Cambria’s population declined by 10,430, more than the net loss of 6,120 for the entire region. Bedford, Fulton, Huntingdon, and Somerset counties gained population, offsetting some of Cambria County’s significant population loss.
Blair County also lost population during the past two decades, from 136,600 in 1980 to 129,100 in 2000.
The population losses in Cambria and Blair counties are partly due to significant job losses in each county and population declines in their central cities.
All other counties in the region gained population each decade, except Somerset. Somerset County lost population in the 1980s but gained in the 1990s; however the 2000 population in Somerset is still lower than its 1980 population.
|
Population Trends By County, Southern
Alleghenies Region, 1980-2000
|
|
County:
|
1980
|
1990
|
2000
|
|
Bedford
|
46,780
|
47,920
|
49,980
|
|
Blair
|
136,620
|
130,540
|
129,140
|
|
Cambria
|
183,360
|
163,030
|
152,600
|
|
Fulton
|
12,840
|
13,840
|
14,260
|
|
Huntingdon
|
42,350
|
44,160
|
45,590
|
|
Somerset
|
81,210
|
78,220
|
80,020
|
|
Total Region
|
502,990
|
477,710
|
471,590
|
|
State of PA
|
11,863,900
|
11,881,600
|
12,281,100
|
|
Region/State
|
4.2%
|
4.0%
|
3.8%
|
|
Source: 1980, 1990 and 2000 U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census
|
For a detailed description, with demographics mapping in the Alleghenies, go to the current SAP&DC 2007 CEDS.