Question

A town in Nebraska had 27,370 residents in the 2020 census. this town has seen growth of 1.8% annually for the last 15 years. If this rate continues, approximately how long will it take for the town to double in size? how many people will we expect the town to have in the 2030 census? Thank you

Answer 1

We can expect the town to have a population of approximately 32,413 in the 2030 census if the growth rate remains at 1.8% per year.

Explanation:

To calculate how long it will take for the town to double in size, we can use the Rule of 70, which states that the time it takes for a quantity to double is approximately 70 divided by the annual growth rate as a percentage.

So in this case, the annual growth rate is 1.8%, and therefore the doubling time is approximately 70/1.8 = 38.89 years (rounded to two decimal places).

To estimate the population in the 2030 census, we can use the same growth rate of 1.8% per year. Starting with the 2020 population of 27,370, we can use the formula:

Population = Initial population x (1 + growth rate)^number of years

Plugging in the numbers, we get:

Population = 27,370 x (1 + 0.018)^10 = 32,413 (rounded to the nearest whole number)

Therefore, we can expect the town to have a population of approximately 32,413 in the 2030 census if the growth rate remains at 1.8% per year.