Canadian county leads population growth in Oklahoma

Whether it has to do with the jump in oil and gas activity remains to be seen, but Canadian County is the fastest-growing county in Oklahoma. As a result, it is seeing an increase in home and business construction.

The U.S. Census Bureau figures released this week showed the county had a 25 percent growth from 2010 to 2018 when the county’s population grew from 115,540 to 144,447 residents.

The growth rate last year ranked Canadian county 49th in the U.S.

McClain county had the second highest population growth with a 16 percent increase. The county’s population grew from 34,508 in 2010 to 39,985 last year.

The remaining counties in the top five were Logan, Bryan and Oklahoma.  Oklahoma County, home to Oklahoma City had a 10 percent increase since 2010. Its population grew from 718,377 to 792,582 in 2018.

While Canadian County, which is in the prosperous STACK oil and gas play, saw an increase, Blaine County, also in the STACK saw a loss of its population by 21 percent. Watonga is the Blaine County seat. The count population went from 11,942 in 2010 to 9,485 last year.

Cimarron county was ranked second highest for population loss. The loss of nearly 300 residents resulted in a 13 percent decline as the county population went from 2,475 in 2010 to 2,153 last year. Cimarron was followed by Harmon, Latimer and Tillman counties for counties that lost population.