The population of the Tri-State now exceeds 900,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2010 figures that have been released over the past few weeks. With Kentucky's numbers released on Thursday, I was able to gather the entire Tri-State's information for the first time.

There are now officially 902,075 residents in the 30 counties that make up the Tri-State. That's an increase of 2.4% over the past decade, and compares to 881,237 in the census of 2000.
Let's look at how things break down.
In Southeastern Illinois, only Lawrence and Richland counties saw increases over the past decade. Lawrence County's population (16,833) grew by 8.9%, while Richland's (16,233) grew by 0.5%. All other counties saw declines from 1.9% (in Hamilton County) to 13.3% (Gallatin County). As a group, the 10 counties lost 3.2% of their population, falling from 140,390 in 2000 to 135,933 today.
In Southwestern Indiana, Warrick County outpaced its neighbors, growing by 13.95% to 59,689 residents. That was followed by a 6.1% increase in Daviess County (31,648). Only Knox (-2.1%), Martin (-0.3%) and Posey (-4.3%) lost population. In all, the population of the 11-county area grew by 4.2%, from 455,112 ten years ago to 474,251 today.
Western Kentucky's growth, as expected, was primarily centered in the urban areas around Henderson and Owensboro, although Ohio County's 4% increase (to 23,842) was the second-highest increase in the nine counties. Daviess County (with 96,656 residents) led all with a 5.6% increase, even though Owensboro lost out to Bowling Green in the race to be Kentucky's third-largest city. All told, the Kentucky counties are home to 291,891 of us, a 2.2% increase over the 285,735 counted in 2000.
See below for county-by-county figures.
Southeastern Illinois
CountyPopulation, 2010 CensusPopulation, 2000 CensusPercent Change, +/-
Clay13,81514,560-5.1%
Edwards6,7216,971-3.6%
Gallatin5,5896,445-13.3%
Hamilton8,4578,621-1.9%
Lawrence16,83315,452+8.9%
Richland16,23316,149+0.5%
Saline24,91326,733-6.8%
Wabash11,94712,937-7.7%
Wayne16,76017,151-2.3%
White14,66515,371-4.6%
TOTALS135,933140,390-3.2%
Southwestern Indiana
CountyPopulation, 2010 CensusPopulation, 2000 CensusPercent Change, +/-
Daviess31,64829,820+6.1%
Dubois41,88939,674+5.6%
Gibson33,50332,500+3.1%
Knox38,44039,256-2.1%
Martin10,33410,369-0.3%
Perry19,33818,899+2.3%
Pike12,84512,837+0.1%
Posey25,91027,061-4.3%
Spencer20,95220,391+2.8%
Vanderburgh179,703171,922+4.5%
Warrick59,68952,383+13.95%
TOTALS474,251455,112+4.2%
Western Kentucky
CountyPopulation, 2010 CensusPopulation, 2000 CensusPercent Change, +/-
Daviess96,65691,545+5.6%
Hancock8,5658,392+2.1%
Henderson46,25044,829+3.2%
Hopkins46,92046,519+0.9%
McLean9,5319,938-4.1%
Muhlenberg31,49931,839-1.1%
Ohio23,84222,916+4.0%
Union15,00715,637-4.0%
Webster13,62114,120-3.5%
TOTALS291,891285,735+2.2%

More From WGBFAM