Population during each governor's tenure

51 governors, ranked by how population changed from their first day in office, next to the United States over the same months. Politare shows what happened during a tenure; it does not claim the office-holder caused it.

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Results

Order

#	Governor	State	In office	Total	vs US	Per year
1	Kenny Guinn	Nevada	4 Jan 1999 – 1 Jan 2007	+44.7% 1998 → 2006	+36.5 pts US +8.2%	+4.7%/yr
2	Mike Leavitt	Utah	4 Jan 1993 – 5 Nov 2003	+29.6% 1992 → 2003	+16.5 pts US +13.1%	+2.4%/yr
3	Rick Perry	Texas	21 Dec 2000 – 20 Jan 2015	+28.7% 2000 → 2014	+15.6 pts US +13.2%	+1.8%/yr
4	Jeb Bush	Florida	5 Jan 1999 – 2 Jan 2007	+21.9% 1998 → 2006	+13.7 pts US +8.2%	+2.5%/yr
5	Fife Symington	Arizona	6 Mar 1991 – 5 Sep 1997 from 1991	+21.0% 1991 → 1997	+13.3 pts US +7.7%	+3.2%/yr
6	Gary Herbert	Utah	11 Aug 2009 – 4 Jan 2021	+20.6% 2009 → 2020	+12.6 pts US +8.0%	+1.7%/yr
7	Butch Otter	Idaho	1 Jan 2007 – 7 Jan 2019	+19.3% 2006 → 2018	+9.3 pts US +10.0%	+1.5%/yr
8	Bill Owens	Colorado	12 Jan 1999 – 9 Jan 2007	+18.9% 1998 → 2006	+10.7 pts US +8.2%	+2.2%/yr
9	Jane Dee Hull	Arizona	5 Sep 1997 – 6 Jan 2003	+18.5% 1997 → 2002	+13.1 pts US +5.5%	+3.5%/yr
10	Jim Hunt	North Carolina	9 Jan 1993 – 6 Jan 2001	+18.3% 1992 → 2000	+8.4 pts US +9.9%	+2.1%/yr

Showing 10 of 249 tenures.

Sorted by total, highest first. Every row is indexed to the last count complete before the first day in office ("from" marks a start that had to move because that count had no data, or because the period cut it); the United States is measured over the same months. Levels are per cent changes, rates are differences in %; "per year" compounds levels and divides rates. Tenures with under 12 months, or under three observations, are left out. thousands, July 1 estimate · Census Population Estimates via FRED · state data · as of Sep 2026.