Loyola University Chicago

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Kenneth M. Johnson is a Professor of Sociology at Loyola University-Chicago. He is a Ph.D. demographer and sociologist specializing in U.S. demographic trends. Dr. Johnson completed his graduate training at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and received his undergraduate training at the University of Michigan. He teaches courses in demography, research methods, quantitative analysis and urban sociology at both the graduate and undergraduate level. Dr. Johnson was named a Loyola Faculty Scholar in 2002 and Faculty Member of the Year in 2006 for his sustained record of excellence in research and teaching.

Dr. Johnson has done extensive research on population redistribution and demographic trends in the United States. His research has been funded by grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service and U.S. Forest Service. He has authored a book and more than one hundred and fifty articles, reports and papers on U.S. demographic trends. His research has been published in academic journals including Demography, Social Forces,American Demographics, The Wilson Quarterly, and Rural Sociology. Dr. Johnson's research has also been reported in articles appearing in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and USA Today, and he has been interviewed on ABC World News Tonight, NBC Nightly News, CNN, BBC and National Public Radio. An extensive article on Dr. Johnson's research appeared in the Chicago Tribune (see Tribune article).

Current Research

Dr. Johnson's research focuses on how the U.S. population is redistributing itself and on the implications such demographic change has for the people and institutions of the nation. He is particularly interested in nonmetropolitan demographic trends. His research documents the resurgence of widespread population increase in nonmetropolitan areas of the United States after 1990. This "Rural Rebound" reflected a major shift in U.S. demographic trends representing only the second time in the last 80 years that rural areas has experienced significant migration gains (see Rural Rebound). Since 2000, the population growth rate in rural areas has slowed, but many nonmetropolitan counties continue to gain population.

Dr. Johnson is also examining how concentrations of recreational activity impact demographic trends in selected areas of the United States (see Recreation). His research suggests that areas rich in recreational and scenic amenities are gaining population rapidly and that migration is accounting for most of the growth. His research investigates the demographic characteristics of the migrants to recreational and natural amenity areas and also examines how such amenity migration might contribute to urban sprawl.

Using recently released data from the Census and data from other demographic sources, Dr. Johnson is also examining demographic trends in the Chicago metropolitan region. This research documents the complex pattern of demographic change that has produced population gains in some parts of the metropolitan region and population loss elsewhere. After gaining population from 1990-2000, recent estimates suggest that the City of Chicago and Cook County are now losing population. In contrast, population gains are accelerating near the outer edges of the metropolitan region. (See Chicago Metro Demographic Trends).

A recent joint research project by Dr. Johnson and demographer William O'Hare of the Annie E. Casey Foundation explored the well being of the 14 million children who live in rural America. They find that rural children, regardless of race or Hispanic origin, have higher poverty rates than their urban counterparts. They also found that access to health care and services is also more limited for rural children. (see Rural Child Poverty)

Selected Recent Publications

Lichter, D.T. and K.M. Johnson. 2006. "Emerging Rural Settlement Patterns and the Geographic Redistribution of America's New Immigrants." Rural Sociology. 71:109-131.

Johnson, K.M. 2006. "Demographic Trends in Rural and Small Town America." Reports on America 1(1):1-35. Carsey Foundation, University of New Hampshire.

Johnson, K.M., A. Nucci, and L. Long. 2005 "Population Trends in Metropolitan and Nonmetoropolitan America: Selective Deconcentration and the Rural Rebound." Population Research and Policy Review. 24(5): 527-542.

Johnson, K.M., P.R. Voss, R.B. Hammer, G.V. Fuguitt and S. McNiven. 2005. "Temporal and Spatial Variation in Age-Specific Net Migration in the United States ." Demography, 42(4): 791-812.

Brown, D.G., K.M. Johnson, T.R. Loveland and D.M. Theobald. 2005. "Rural Land Use Trends in the Coterminous U.S. 1950-2000." Ecological Applications . 15(6): 1851-1863.

O'Hare, W.P. and K.M. Johnson. 2004. "Child Poverty in Rural America," PRB Reports to America, Vol. 3, No. 1. Washington, D.C.: Population Reference Bureau.

Johnson, K.M. 2003. "Unpredictable Directions of Population Growth and Migration." pp. 19-31 in D.L. Brown and L. Swanson (eds.), Challenges for Rural America in the 21st Century, University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press.

Johnson, K.M. 2002. "The Changing Face of Chicago: Demographic Trends in the 1990s." Chicago Fed Letter. Chicago: Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. 176(April).

Johnson, K.M. and C.L. Beale. 2002. "Nonmetro Recreation Counties: Their Identification and Rapid Growth." Rural America 17(4): 12-19.

Johnson, K.M. and G.V. Fuguitt. 2000. "Continuity and Change in Rural Migration Patterns, 1950-1995," Rural Sociology 65:27-49.

Klier, T.H. and K.M. Johnson. 2000. "Effects of Auto Plant Openings on Net Migration in the Auto Corridor, 1980-1997," Economic Perspectives 24(4): 14-29.