By Bryce Hill | Illinois Policy Instate
Illinois’ population decline continued for its 10th consecutive year in 2023 as the state’s population dropped by 32,826 residents from July 2022-July 2023, but new data showed losses were in 87 of Illinois’ 102 counties.
Population decline was the most pronounced in some of the state’s most populous counties, but most of the decline came from Cook County. It lost 24,494 residents during the year, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates released March 14.
While overall population decline slowed in 2023 compared to previous years, population decline continued to plague virtually every corner of the state. The next largest losses after Cook County came in St. Clair County, losing 1,247, and Lake County, which lost 1,139 residents.
Statewide, population decline continues to be driven exclusively by domestic outmigration – residents leaving for other states. Cook County’s outmigration crisis was the second-worst in the nation last year, with more than 58,000 residents leaving the county. The only county to experience heavier losses was Los Angeles County.
Kings County and Queens County, New York, also saw outmigration totaling more than 50,000 residents each. Miami-Dade County also lost nearly 48,000 residents to outmigration despite growing in terms of total population.
The largest gains from domestic migration came from counties in Florida and Texas.
Read more here.
Editorial note: Since we’re (somewhat) on the subject, Cook is the 2nd most populous county (5,087,072) in the US behind Los Angeles County. DuPage is 60th (921,213), Lake is 96th (708,760) and Will is 98th (696,355) in rank out of the 100 US counties according to Wikipedia.
Cook County has roughly twice the population of Dallas (TX), Kings (Brooklyn, NY) and Riverside (CA) Counties. So, considering these figures and the problems associated with them, why is no one talking about dividing Cook into 2-3 smaller, more manageable counties?
Probably because it makes sense.
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