Thousands more people have moved into Johnson County during the last year, sending more children into local schools and prompting developers to propose new subdivisions.
Since the 2010 census, Johnson County has remained one of the fastest growing counties in the state, with its population growth putting it as the sixth fastest growing county in 2018, according to the latest estimates.
The latest data from the United States Census Bureau estimates that 156,225 people lived in the county in 2018. The population estimate for 2017 was 153,897, an increase of 1.5 percent. More than 16,000 more people live in the county, as compared to the last census in 2010.
Hamilton, Boone, Hancock, Hendricks and Brown counties are the only counties with a faster population growth, according to the Census data.
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Now local governments have to address the needs that come with population growth, including building new schools and considering proposals for new subdivisions that would bring hundreds of new homes to the communities.
A new elementary school will open this fall in the Center Grove school district. Clark-Pleasant is looking to build its sixth elementary school to be open by the 2021-22 school year. The Johnson County Public Library has studied the needs of the libraries in the district, which has showed that the Clark-Pleasant area needs a new library, with overcrowding of the current Clark-Pleasant branch cited as an issue by patrons.
The most obvious indicator that more people are moving into the area is the number of new homes that are being built in the county, Ron West, county commissioner said.
“We have had a real housing boom with a lot of new construction, the housing market itself is a seller’s market," West said.
More homes are being built in the county with new a new subdivision being planned in Franklin. Hundreds of new homes have been built or planned in the southern Center Grove area and in neighborhoods east of Greenwood.
Last year, 800 more permits were issued for homes, a 13 percent increase from 2017 when 705 permits were issued. More than 300 of the permits to build new homes were issued in Greenwood, according to the Builders Association of Greater Indianapolis
And 174 permits have been filed in the first three months of 2019. About 150 permits were filed in the same time period last year, according to the Builders Association of Greater Indianapolis.
A plan for nearly 500 homes was approved for the southside of Franklin.
The city of Greenwood is also considering plans for hundreds of new homes in multiple neighborhoods in the city.
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Johnson County continues to be one of the fastest-growing counties in central Indiana. Here is a look at our population change in recent years:
2010;2015;2018
Boone County;56,640;63,037;66,999
Hamilton County;274,569;308,774;330,086
Hancock County;70,002;72,398;76,351
Hendricks County;145,448;157,709;167,009
Johnson County;139,654;148,935;156,225
Marion County;903,393;940,235;954,670
Morgan County;68,894;69,551;70,116
Shelby County44,436;44,349;44,593
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