Oconee not quite yet 80,000 population

Oconee County is not yet a county with 80 thousand people, but it’s close. The Census Bureau’s count of Oconee County residents for 2020 was 78,607.  That’s an increase of some 4,300, or 5.8%, from the 2010 Census.  About 50 years ago the county’s population hovered in the range of 42 to 43 thousand, and it wasn’t long before then that the local phone book was no thicker than a large paperback.