To subscribe to Capitol Fax, click here. Census: Illinois population has fallen by 1.2 percent since 2010 Monday, Jan 6, 2020 * NBC 5… Illinois’ population shrunk by more than any other state from 2010 to 2019, according to data released Monday by the U.S. Census Bureau. Since the beginning of the decade, Illinois has lost 159,751 residents which equals 1.2% of its population. Only one other state, West Virginia, had a higher percentage of population loss at 3.3%, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In 2019, Illinois’ population shrunk by more than 51,000 residents - the largest drop out of any state from 2018 to 2019, data revealed. […] Nationwide, the U.S. population from the middle of 2018 to the middle of 2019 grew by almost a half percent, or about 1.5 million people, according to the data. * Tribune… In examining population trends in Illinois over the past year, the Tribune found that a decrease in the number of people moving to Illinois from other states and countries has exacerbated the impact of declining birthrates and increasing numbers of people moving out of the state. The data released Monday shows that the state’s well-known problems with domestic migration losses (losing residents to other states) were slightly mitigated by positive net international migration. Arrivals to Illinois from other countries outnumbered international departures, causing Illinois to gain about 1.5 people per 1,000 residents. But domestically, more people left Illinois for another state than the reverse, causing a loss of about 8.3 people per 1,000. That rate was the fourth worst for any state in 2019, behind New York, Hawaii and Alaska. When the domestic and international migration rates are combined, the flow of people into and out of Illinois caused a net migration loss of about 6.8 people per 1,000 residents in the past year. The new numbers offer only net migration estimates and do not allow comparisons between how many people left Illinois and how many moved in. But in September, the Tribune reported that Illinois ranked worse nationally on attracting new residents from other countries and states than on losing residents to other states. * Illinois Policy Institute… If Illinois had simply kept pace with the average state population growth since the start of the Great Recession in 2007, when Illinois’ labor force was at its peak, the state’s population would be 1.14 million residents, or 9%, larger than it is today. This increase in population would yield an economy that is at least an estimated $78 billion larger than today, equivalent to the entire state economy of Delaware. Counter-points from Jake…

As you read stories about Illinois’ population loss, remember — the last time more Americans moved into Illinois than out of it was **1920** This and more important context from @CTBA_online https://t.co/glkOtaZDWb — jake lewis (@jake____lewis) December 30, 2019 Illinois’ net outmigration seems to have peaked in 2017, slowly improving over the last two years https://t.co/1hb4HMZd8A https://t.co/MTYZ1tl066 — jake lewis (@jake____lewis) December 30, 2019

* Also… Illinois illustrates what is likely to be a dramatic shift of political power away from rural regions and toward the big metro areas. Of the state’s 102 counties, 93 lost population in the last decade. The only substantial gainers are counties in the Chicago suburbs, as residents leave the big city for cheaper real estate and safer streets. When Illinois loses one of its 18 House districts, legislators are likely to eliminate one of the six districts that represents a downstate area — five of which are held by Republicans. - Posted by Rich Miller

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