Sioux City Journal: The Iowa Great Lakes region has long been a mecca for vacationers, with a $275 million annual tourism industry and a summer population that swells as high as 120,000 on weekends. Over the past seven years, while many small towns across the state saw their populations decline, Dickinson County was the 11th fastest-growing county in Iowa. The county posted 3.17 percent growth from 2010 to 2017, rising from 16,670 to 17,199, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Since 1990, the county has grown 15 percent.