CENSUS DIVE: Which towns around here are shrinking?

Small towns, especially really small towns, can be very randomly placed, fluctuating in quantity from county to county.

In nearby Wilkinson County, for example, there are five legally-recognized municipalities, despite the fact that there are only 8,877 people in the entire county, according to Census data. All five towns have fewer than 2,000 residents, and only two (Gordon and Ivey) have more than 1,000 residents.

Ivey has a lot of clout and bragging rights, because they have two gas stations directly across the street from each other. 

For some reason, Google Earth's default image for Ivey is a little cemetery that desperately needs landscaping.

Along those same lines is Washington County, which has seven different municipalities. The smallest is Riddleville, which recently lost roughly 15 percent of its population in between Census counts (16 people), and its population is now down to 80. Also flirting with double digits is Deepstep, a town without a stop light (or even a blinking yellow light). Deepstep saw its population decrease by 11 percent (14 people) and is now all the way down to 117.

The center of culture and commerce in Harrison is the Jet store, and if you hang out long enough, you may see the Dorito truck pass by. Meanwhile, Harrison's city hall building really is directly across the street from feed silos. // Images courtesy of Google Earth

On the other hand, Baldwin, Jones and Putnam all have exactly one municipality each, despite the fact that all are at least three times larger than Wilkinson County.

Here's a look at how Milledgeville fared in the recent 2020 Census count, as well as all municipalities in neighboring counties:

• Milledgeville (Baldwin) – 2020 population – 17,070 // old (2010) population – 17, 715 ...a net LOSS of 645

• Sparta (Hancock) – 2020 population – 1,357 // old (2010) population – 1,400 ...a net LOSS of 43

• Gray (Jones) 2020 population – 3,436 // old (2010) population – 3,276 ...a net GAIN of 645

• Eatonton (Putnam) 2020 population – 6,307 // old (2010) population – 6,480 ...a net LOSS of 173

• Gordon (Wilkinson) – 2020 population – 1,783 // old (2010) population – 2,017 ...a net LOSS of 234

• Irwinton (Wilkinson) – 2020 population – 531 // old (2010) population – 589 ...a net LOSS of 58

• Ivey (Wilkinson) – 2020 population – 1,037 // old (2010) population – 981 ...a net GAIN of 56

• McIntyre (Wilkinson) – 2020 population – 575 // old (2010) population – 650 ...a net LOSS of 75

• Toomsboro (Wilkinson) – 2020 population – 383 // old (2010) population – 472 ...a net LOSS of 89

• Davisboro (Washington) –2020 population – 1,832 // old (2010) population – 2,010 ...a net LOSS of 178

• Deepstep (Washington) –2020 population – 117 // old (2010) population – 131 ...a net LOSS of 14

• Harrison (Washington) –2020 population – 339 // old (2010) population – 489 ...a net LOSS of 150

• Oconee (Washington) –2020 population – 197 // old (2010) population – 252 ...a net LOSS of 55

• Riddleville (Washington) – 2020 population – 80 // old (2010) population – 96 ...a net LOSS of 16

• Sandersville (Washington) –2020 population – 5,813 // old (2010) population – 5,9123 ...a net LOSS of 99

• Tennille (Washington) –2020 population – 1,469 // old (2010) population – 1,539 ...a net LOSS of 70

As seen above, out of the 15 municipalities in neighboring counties, only two (Gray and Ivey) didn't get shrink in between Census counts. In fact, Baldwin County lost population in between Census counts for the first time since 1840 – yes, 1840. This is a phenomenon being repeated throughout rural parts of Georgia. Despite the fact that roughly a million new people were added to Georgia's total population between 2010 and 2020, the overwhelming majority of that  growth was in the 29-county Atlanta Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Also of note, it's important to have a baseline understanding for how Census population counts are finalized. Although the once-every-10-year Census count is designed to be an exact head count, it's actually more of a survey. Census analysts control and measure for individuals and families who do not respond to Census takers, such as taking a look at tax records and other records. Census analysts also use quantitative tools such as "proxy responses" and "imputation."

In other words, despite the fact that less than 50 percent of Baldwin County residents actually were tallied during the 2020 Census, that doesn't mean that the Census Bureau didn't fill in the gaps, and it doesn't mean that the Census Bureau only counted the people and families who responded last year.