Illinois Population – Down and Down It Goes

Reprinted with permission from Illinois News Network:

Illinois population drops by more than 45,000, per latest Census report

Illinois had the largest population decline in the nation in 2018, the continuation of a years-long retreat from the state, according to figures from U.S. Census Bureau released Wednesday.

People keep moving from Illinois.

Census numbers show 114,154 people moved out of Illinois in the 12 months ending in July. In total, Illinois’ population shrank to 12,741,080, a total population loss of 45,116 from last year. This marks the fifth consecutive year of total population loss for the state and the largest drop in population in more than a decade.

With an outmigration of more than 114,000 in 2017 Illinois was relegated to America’s sixth-largest state, falling behind Pennsylvania.

The data begins in July 2017, the same time that Illinois lawmakers overrode Gov. Bruce Rauner’s veto to pass a historic income tax hike, raising the rate to 5 percent, up from 3.75 percent.

In the months before July 2017 dating back to the recession, Illinois saw job growth at 1.7 percent, in line with the rest of the nation.

Data from the next twelve months that coincide to the day with Census data, Illinois saw jobs growth slow to .97 percent, 44th in the nation.

The reason why people continue to leave is not clear, but is likely the result of many factors.

Some point to the

  • state’s weather
  • cost-of-living
  • crime in areas like Chicago’s South Side, and
  • greater opportunity in other states

“Our economic recovery has been a lot more sluggish,” said Brian Harger, research associate with Northern Illinois University’s Center for Governmental Studies.

Credit ratings agency Fitch Ratings said in a report earlier this month that, while Illinois’ population losses have accelerated since the recession, there has been a pattern of out-migration that’s been virtually uninterrupted since the mid-1920s.

It’s only in the last handful of years that the state’s birthrate and immigration rates have failed to make up for the growing outflow of residents.

“The factors that have buffered this loss in the past, the birthrate and the level of foreign migration, have cooled off,” Harger said.

While population loss is troubling, Harger said the bigger issue is who is deciding to leave.

“The biggest concern isn’t just the loss of people, but it’s the aging population and that most of those leaving are of working age,” he said.

The most recent IRS data shows Illinois lost more than $720 million in adjusted gross income on net to neighboring states in 2016.

As a result of the population loss, Illinois is on track to lose at least one member of Congress after the apportionment process in 2021.

This, accompanied with fewer electoral votes in presidential elections, leaves Illinois with a diminished voice in federal matters.


Comments

Illinois Population – Down and Down It Goes — 3 Comments

  1. No surprise here.

    See a DEMOCRAT – thank a DEMOCRAT.

    As the Great Exodus from Illinois continues unabated.

    Got that, Joe Blowhard ?

  2. Ok I’ll move back if I can get one of those $100 K pensions everyone’s getting, the same Tax Abatement scheme you promised Amazon and accelerate your Global Warming to keep winter temps above 60.

  3. Wake up people!

    Arise!

    These figures are false, because immigrating welfare-takers (illegal aliens and ‘citizens’ from other states) are flocking INTO Ill. to take advantage of higher benefits. So, really, the net outflow of PRODUCTIVE CITIZENS is greater than the net loss!

    Scroll down to “Chicongo: Demographics, Deficits, and White Flight”

    https://vertigopolitix.wordpress.com/visual-media/

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