People in need of easy access to information on population, economic and social trends across Iowa can consult the eighth edition of “Iowa Counties: Selected Population Trends, Vital Statistics, and Socioeconomic Data.”

The book is similar to a statistical abstract and contains 37 different reports of public information. Willis Goudy, co-author of the book and chair of ISU’s sociology department, said the book pulls together a variety of sources to be available for people throughout the state.

“We see this as part of Iowa State’s mission of outreach to the state,” Goudy said. “These data are useful for people making decisions about programs and activities within the counties.”

Sandra Charvat Burke, co-author of the book and assistant scientist with the sociology department, said the book provides information in an easily available format. All the information is public domain and not copyrighted.

One of the keys to the book is that trends are emphasized with more than one year’s information, Goudy said. The information is not repeated in each edition unless it is updated.

City and county planners, private corporations, hospitals and public agencies may use the book for creating policies or putting together grant proposals to apply for funding.

The project requires continuous effort throughout the year, Goudy said. The book comes out in October.

“One of the joys is looking for new data,” he said. “Another is having people indicate that it has been useful for them to obtain a grant or make decisions.”

This is the first year the book has included information on lottery sales. In 1995 the average amount of money spent on lottery tickets per person was $70.

Pottawattamie County in southwest Iowa had the largest per-person expenditure with $126 for each person.

Story County spent $36 per person on lottery tickets.

The book also includes reports such as the population and total number of vehicles registered in each county, with nearly 3.3 million total vehicles registered in Iowa but only about 2.8 million total people in Iowa.

Story County saw nearly 26,000 people move in during 1985-1990 with more than 24,500 people moving out to other counties or states. Goudy said few counties have that much migration and the high number in Ames is due partly to ISU.

The book is distributed through Extension Offices. Iowa State has a copy at the Parks Library and in the reading room of Heady Hall. Charvat Burke estimated 500 copies of the book are sold each year.