Elk County Is Not Alone In Losing Population

[Ross]

March 9, 2011

Behind the numbers: Sociologist says Kansas' population growth not all positive

MANHATTAN -- Kansas will continue to see an increasingly aging population, rural-area population loss and diversity in highly concentrated areas, according to a Kansas State University population expert.

Laszlo Kulcsar, director of the Kansas Population Center and an associate professor of sociology, recently analyzed data released by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Kansas' overall population grew by 6 percent during the last decade, up about 165,000 from 2.69 million in 2000. Most of that increase occurred in Johnson County, counties in the Wichita area and counties around Fort Riley and Kansas State University.

"Despite this growth, I would be cautious to say that there's no reason to worry," Kulcsar said. "The population continues to age drastically, and this will fundamentally change Kansas."

The state's median age will continue to rise, he said, and the aging population will rely on more public services and contribute fewer tax dollars.

"Kansas population trends are fairly stable to predict because the state doesn't have many uncertainties as do fast-growing states such as Arizona," he said. "Unlike other states, we have the opportunity to work on issues today to ensure we have a plan 10 years down the road."

More residents will likely move away from the state's rural areas if current trends continue, Kulcsar said.

More than 70 percent of the state's counties had fewer residents in 2010 than in 2000, and the population fell by more than 10 percent in 23 of the state's 105 counties, according to census figures.

"If we leave everything to market forces, small-town Kansas will not be able to rebound," he said. "History has shown this already as these trends are not new. The question is whether the state should step in under the notion that America must save rural areas for cultural identity."

The population in most rural Kansas counties peaked at or before 1930 and has been declining since the Great Depression, Kulcsar said.

Young families often leave rural areas in search of more job opportunities and cultural amenities in urban areas, he said.

"Usually young families about to establish households are extremely important to communities because they're about to reach their prime consumption age," Kulcsar said. "They make purchases in the community and pay taxes that support businesses, schools and community services.  
Modernization of farming, which requires fewer workers, and farm consolidation to achieve economies of scale are also factors in the decline of rural Kansas, he said.

"Often times large corporate conglomerates with absentee owners do not invest in the local community and will not circulate profits in the same community like local businesses," he said. "Local control allows citizens, businesses and government to better address any negative demographic trends."

The latest census figures also revealed a more diverse Kansas. The number of Hispanics in Kansas rose by 59 percent since 2000.

However, the diverse population is concentrated in southwest Kansas, Kulcsar said.

"In many of those places diversity already existed, so we really need to think about the community capacity for those areas to handle those changes," he said.

Counties with significant Hispanic population increases like Ford County are home to meatpacking plants, Kulcsar said.

"We're seeing that this population is often not well integrated into the community," he said. "Once you move that industry, people will not stick around. The job goes away, and they go away. It's a transient population."

Finney County, for example, lost 9.2 percent of its population since 2000 after a meatpacking caught fire and closed in 2000.

From Julie Fosberg
Division of Communications and Marketing, Kansas State University
128 Dole Hall, Manhattan, KS 66506
785-532-2535, media@k-state.edu

[Diane Amberg]

Do you have any of the "Mexican Mennonites?" that SW Kansas has?

[srkruzich]

Do you have any of the "Mexican Mennonites?" that SW Kansas has?

if they reside in kansas they would not be mexican mennonites now would they.

[Diane Amberg]

Don't show your lack of knowledge... that's what they are called!Sheesh!

[kshillbillys]

I don't know about Mexican Mennonites but we have "regular" Mennonites right north of us in Fredonia!

[srkruzich]

thats what they would be called lol.  Also a Mennonite is a Mennonite.  They hold no allegiance to any government or Nationality and DIane, The Mexican Mennonites you speak of are not Mexican. They originate from Canada and are blond haired and speak deitch.  There is no Mexican to them as they immigrated from Canada to escape the religious laws there. 

You have oomcc Mennonite, NOM Mennonite, Mennonite brethren,  Hutterites, ect ect but they don't call themselves Mexican, American, or Canadian. There is Mennonite/Amish and then there is English and thats it!

[flintauqua]

From four years ago, but on topic:

State health officials trying to help 'Mexican Mennonites'

"The last time Low German Mennonites settled in Kansas was in the 1800s," said William Keel, a professor of German at The University of Kansas, referring to a group that settled on farms in central Kansas. "This is like the 19th century all over again."

The new arrivals are sometimes called Mexican Mennonites. Their ancestors migrated from Germany to Russia and then to Canada. In the early 20th century, to avoid Canadian public school laws, they migrated from Canada to Mexico. The families now moving to Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma in search of jobs typically come from the Mexican state of Chihuahua.

They began moving to Kansas in small numbers and appearing on the radar screens of health officials as early as the 1980s. But by the late 1990s and early 2000s, there were enough in Kansas that health officials began reaching out to the Low German Mennonite communities, several of which are in Scott, Gray and Haskell counties."

http://cjonline.com/stories/112407/kan_220118752.shtml

[Diane Amberg]

 AHEM.... like I said, Mexican Mennonites. I never said they were Mexican, that's just what they were called because of where they came from last. I just wondered, but a few of you are so worried about being "right" that you declare war over anything. Never mind. I assume there are none near you. I had a reason for asking having to do with states rights and increases in population but it doesn't matter now. Good grief.

[srkruzich]

AHEM.... like I said, Mexican Mennonites. I never said they were Mexican, that's just what they were called because of where they came from last. I just wondered, but a few of you are so worried about being "right" that you declare war over anything. Never mind. I assume there are none near you. I had a reason for asking having to do with states rights and increases in population but it doesn't matter now. Good grief.

Again mennonite is a mennonite.  One thing is for sure, you'll never get a total number on the mennonites because it is agaisnt religious beliefs to be numbered.

[Diane Amberg]

 These folks are not part of the Mennonite USA, but it isn't worth arguing over because it's 'way far from what my original question was going to be.  You don't know and that's fine. Never mind.