For 2019, the estimated population for the Wichita metropolitan area is up — and also down.
Each year the United States Census Bureau produces new population estimates through its Population and Housing Unit Estimates program.
For the Wichita Metropolitan Statistical Area, the estimated population on July 1, 2019, is 640,218. That is an increase of 2,699 (0.4 percent) from the previous year. The largest component of this growth is Natural Increase, which grew by 2,325. This is composed of 8,057 births and 5,732 deaths.
International Migration contributed 688 to population growth, while Domestic Migration subtracted 291. A nearby table summarizes.
The Wichita MSA is composed of Sedgwick, Butler, Harvey, and Sumner counties.
When the Census Bureau produces estimates for a new year, it also revises the estimates for prior years. For the Wichita MSA, these revisions have been small. For 2017 and 2018, the average revision was 0.03 percent. But for 2019, the average revision was 1.20 percent, and the revision was negative, meaning the revised estimated populations are lower.
Revisions are common, but the 2019 revision for Wichita was especially large. For 2019, the average adjustment, with all metros weighted equally, was up 0.63 percent. The two metros closest to Wichita in the proportional size of revision were Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX, down by 1.11 percent, and Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, TN, down by 1.36 percent.
I gathered data and present a nearby table holding estimated populations for the Wichita metro starting in 2010 and for four vintages. “Vintage,” in this context, refers to the year the data was produced. (Sort of. The data released in May 2020, which provides values for 2019, is labeled “vintage 2019.”)
With the downward revision of the estimates, we now believe the population in 2019 is roughly what we thought it was in 2014. A nearby chart plots the estimated population, shown separately based on 2019 and 2018 vintages.
