The Census data for Bend include demographic information on the age of residents. Table 4-2 compares the age distribution in four broad groupings for the city population since the 1970 census. The 2000 census data are also compared to the county and state populations, and show that the city population was younger than the overall county and statewide population averages.

Table 4-2 and Figure 4-2 show that Bend’s population in 2000 was not that different from the populations of the County and the State. The greatest difference between these populations is that Bend’s population in 2000 included more persons between the ages of 25-44 than the county or the state. In contrast, the Census counted fewer people in the 45-64 range in Bend than in the county or the state.

As was indicated above, Deschutes County was the fastest growing county in the state in the 1990s. Between 1990 and 2000, the County’s population grew by 40,409 people, an increase of almost 54 percent. A majority of the increase (88 percent) was from “positive net migration” – the number of people moving into the county exceeded the number of people moving out. Similarly, most of the increase in the Bend UGB population since 1990 is attributed to in-migrants. Table 4-3 displays the population change data by natural increase and net migration for Deschutes County between 1980 and 2000. During the 1990 to 2000 period, population increase due to natural increase (births-deaths) decreased while the net migration component of population change (in-migrants – out-migrants) increased. Net migration accounted for 88 percent of the county’s population growth during the 1990s. In contrast, net migration accounted for 73 percent of the state’s population growth.