Berks County officials get their first glimpse of census data
Oct. 25—The U.S. census impacts quite a lot.
It determines representation, serving as the foundation for drawing Legislative districts and determining how many U.S. representatives each state gets. It helps to determine how much federal funding different areas receive.
Its data also paints a picture of what's going on in local communities.
That last one is why the Berks County commissioners were interested in hearing about the latest numbers from the 2020 version of the census.
They wanted to learn about the trends that will impact the decisions they are charged to make. Trends for topics such as aging, diversity and population shifts.
Knowing what the population of Berks looks like and how it might change in the future is a key to the commissioners being able to do their jobs well. And they got their first glimpse of that recently when county transportation planner Michael Golembiewski, a member of the Berks County Complete Count Committee, stopped by an operations meeting to share some initial raw data.
"We are looking at very basic information," Golembiewski warned. "We will know more when more information is released and will be better able to see trends that may exist."
Here are some of the key takeaways from Golembiewski's presentation:
Berks is growing...slowly
Although Berks showed some growth over the last decade, it failed to keep pace with most of its neighboring counties in southeast Pennsylvania — some of which were among the fastest-growing in the Keystone State.
The 2020 census revealed that the county's population grew by just above 4% in the last decade, reaching nearly 429,000. It's an increase of about 17,000 people.
Golembiewski said that while seeing growth is good, Berks is lagging behind its neighbors.
The county grew less than almost all other surrounding counties, with the exception of Schuylkill, which saw a loss of 3.5%. Chester, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Montgomery all grew at faster rates. Their growth rates ranged from 6.3% in Lancaster to 7.2% in Lebanon.
Golembiewski said the commissioners should investigate why Berks is growing at a slower rate than its neighbors.
"People still want to come here, and people still want to stay here," he said. "That's a good thing. We are doing something right. Let's find out what that is and keep adding onto it.
"Or are we comfortable with that slower rate," he asked. "Because, let's face it, the more people we add in Berks, the more demand for county-funded services there will be."
Commissioners Chairman Christian Leinbach pointed out that the news is still positive.
"We are among the handful that saw an increase," he said.
Berks did outpace Pennsylvania as a whole, which saw an increase of just 2.4% over the last decade. The commonwealth is growing slower than the United States, which saw 7.4% growth.
Leinbach said the overall growth picture in Pennsylvania is concerning.
"There is good news here, but we need to be concerned as a commonwealth that we are well behind the overall growth of the country as a whole," he said.
Because of the declining population in Pennsylvania, the state will lose one of its seats in the House of Representatives, marking the 10th consecutive decade that it has lost clout in Congress.
The state will have 17 congressional districts. At one time — from 1913 to 1933 — the state held its most seats with 36 congressional districts.
"That political power has shifted very much to the south and the southwest of the country where you are seeing a lot of population growth," Leinbach said.
Rural population shrinking
The rise in population in Berks is not evenly distributed throughout the county.
Out of 73 municipalities, including a small portion of Adamstown that is considered part of Berks, there was growth in 46. They added a combined 20,916 residents.
There was a decline in 27 municipalities, which lost a total of 3,509 residents. Most of the declines were in rural parts of the county.
Top 10 municipalities by numeric decline over the last decade
1. Kutztown: -850
2. Maxatawny Township: -725
3. Greenwich Township: -297
4. Rockland Township: -132
5. Upper Bern Township: -128
6. Pike Township: -128
7. Mohnton: -116
8. Ruscombmanor Township: -114
9. Longswamp Township: -112
10. Earl Township: -98
Golembiewski did note that he believes Kutztown's numbers may seen a sharp decline because the Kutztown University campus was shut down due to the COVID pandemic at the time of the census count.
The municipalities to grow the most were mostly urban and suburban.
Top 10 municipalities by numeric growth over the last decade
1. Reading: +7,030
2. Muhlenberg Township: +2,287
3. Spring Township: +1,288
4. Ontelaunee Township: +952
5. Amity Township: +813
6. Lower Heidelberg Township: +717
7. Wyomissing: +653
8. Washington Township: +633
9. Cumru Township: +472
10. South Heidelberg Township: +392
Golembiewski said pinpointing what parts of the county are growing and what parts are shrinking is important when allocating resources.
"That is a clear indication that there will be a demand for more services, whether that means more police, an increase for the school district," he said. "In general, a higher increase means a demand for more services."
The growth trends over the last decade has reinforced Reading and its surrounding suburbs as the population center of Berks.
Top 10 largest municipalities by total population
1. Reading: 95,112
2. Spring Township: 28,407
3. Exeter Township: 25,466
4. Muhlenberg Township: 21,915
5. Cumru Township: 15,619
6. Amity Township: 13,396
7. Wyomissing: 11,114
8. Maidencreek Township: 9,169
9. South Heidelberg Township: 7,663
10. Robeson Township: 7,538
Growing more diverse
Golembiewski told the commissioners that the county is continuing to get more and more diverse.
That is mainly due to the steady rise in the Latino population over the last several decades. The trend has been most impactful in Reading.
Latinos now comprise 69% of the city's population, up from 58.2% in 2010. Back in 1990, Latinos made up only 18.5% of the population.
The county as a whole has seen increases in the Latino population. In fact, all but five municipalities in Berks saw gains in Latino residents.
The only ones that didn't were New Morgan and Lenhartsville boroughs and Marion, Bethel and Upper Bern townships. Every other place had increases of 10% or more. In half of Berks' municipalities, the Latino population more than doubled.
Overall, 23.2% of the county's population is Latino. That's up from 16.4% in 2010 and 5.1% in 1990.
Golembiewski said that as Berks becomes more diverse, county government needs to embrace that diversity. That may mean creating policies that take these changing demographics into account and ensuring that the makeup of county boards reflects the people they serve.
Getting older
Just like it's getting more diverse, Berks is also getting older. However, that's happening at a much slower rate.
Data from the 2020 census shows a continuation of a two-decade trend.
It shows that the number of Berks residents over 18 make up 77.8% of the total population, while 22.2% are under 18. That's up from a decade ago when 76.1% were over 18 and 23.9% were under 18.
Going back 20 years to 2000, 75.4% were over 18 and 24.6% were under 18.
Golembiewski said these numbers are in line with what many communities are seeing nationwide. He said the decline in younger people will have a direct impact on the county workforce, and the rise of an older population will force the county to address the needs of more senior citizens.
Leinbach said he found this to be a particularly troubling trend.
"If you're in an area of the country where you have an aging population and you have a relatively smaller level of growth, you end up with the problem that we're seeing which is: Who is going to fill the positions of retirees," he said.
More information coming
Golembiewski told the commissioners that they may gain greater insight into these trends in the months ahead as more information is released by the Census Bureau. He said they will need to closely examine these trends.
He suggested some of the questions that commissioners should consider:
—How is Berks competing with the rest of southeastern Pennsylvania?
—Are there policies being formulated that are driving growth away?
—What is making us attractive to those coming here?
—Where is growth happening and why?
Commissioner Kevin Barnhardt said that while the 2020 census can help identify the trends they will need to investigate, he believes the information gathered in the American Community Survey may provide more context. That survey is sent out to a smaller number of households and asks more detailed questions.
"This provides a 30,000-foot view," he said about the census. "I think the American Survey gives us better information to track some of these trends and to get a better handle on what's happening."
