26 



Indiana University Studies 



CHAPTER I 



FACTS CONCERNING THE PEOPLE OF INDIANA 

 §1. Population anrl State Rank 



The State of Indiana ranked ninth in the Union on the basis 

 of the number of inhabitants in 1910, having a population of 

 2,700,876. In 1900, the State ranked eighth, the population being 

 2,516,462. In 1890, the State rank was eighth, the population 

 being 2,192,404, and, in 1880, the rank was sixth and the popula- 

 tion 1,978,301. It is thus noted that Indiana, while gaining sub- 

 stantially in population during the last thirty years, has dropped 

 in rank from sixth to ninth place. 



Interstate migration is to a small degree responsible for this 

 loss in rank, the actual loss from this cause to 1910 being recorded 

 as 272,571. Doubtless many other factors are responsible for this 

 loss in rank, but no data are available to determine or evaluate 

 other possible causes. The great number of immigrants settling 

 in several of the other States, and the relatively few locating in 

 this State, is perhaps one of the greatest factors. The paragraph 

 on interstate migration and the section relative to nativity treat 

 these topics in greater detail. 



It is further noted that the State has not only lost in rank 

 when compared with the other States, but its own rate of increase 

 has also lowered in the last twenty years. From 1880 to 1890 the 

 actual increase in population was 214,103, or 10.8 per cent; from 

 1890 to 1900, 324,058, or 14.8 per cent; and from 1900 to 1910, 

 184,414, or 7.3 per cent. Comparing the percentage of increase 

 in population in Indiana during these years with the average 

 percentage increase in population in the United States as a whole, 

 Indiana has not kept pace in growth, since the average increase 

 of all States from 1890 to 1900 was 20.7 per cent and from 1900 

 to 1910, 21.0 per cent. Table 1 summarizes the facts relative to 

 population thus far presented. 



