The latest census data brought no joy to the Land of Lincoln, as Illinois emerged as one of the select eight states to witness a population dip, continuing an unwelcome trend for yet another year. The state's numbers dwindled by nearly 33,000, according to the figures disclosed this week by the United States Census Bureau. Notably, Illinois' decline has somewhat decelerated, down 0.26% from last year, in contrast with a steeper drop of 0.85% recorded between 2021 and 2022, NBC Chicago reports.
The nation, on the other hand, enjoyed an uptick in growth, with the overall U.S. population climbing back to a pre-pandemic surge trajectory. Despite the nationwide increase, the Land of Lincoln, couldn’t keep up, and now tallies at 12,549,689 souls. While Illinois bears the brunt of a decreasing populace, California and New York outstripped it in absolute numbers of population vanishing acts, as reported by The Chicago Tribune.
Down South, states like Texas and Florida flourished, boasting considerable demographic expansions. Texas swelled by over 473,000 residents, while Florida welcomed more than 365,000 new denizens. Nevertheless, despite these states’ gains, the overall growth rate remains historically tepid, inching upwards annually since the viral scourge of 2020, detailed Kristie Wilder, a Census Bureau demographer, "the nation experiencing its largest population gain since 2018."
As neighboring states flourished, all recording population ascents led notably by Indiana's near 30,000 fresh faces, Illinois' contraction stood in stark contrast. The malaise of Illinois, as Bryce Hill of the Illinois Policy Institute suggests, springs from a net domestic migration hemorrhaging 83,839 individuals to other states, this turmoil partially offset by a net international immigration of 40,492. "We need to be thinking about how can we retain more Illinoisans, and how can we attract people from other states to move here," Hill pointed out. Meanwhile, the office of Gov. J.B. Pritzker has called for a review of the census data to vouchsafe accuracy and assure proper federal funding, with an official response pending.
The picture the census paints is less than rosy for Illinois, which has felt the sting of emigration for a decade straddling pre- and post-pandemic worlds. The outflow since April 1, 2020, puts the exodus tally at 263,780, leaving Illinois trailing only behind the likes of New York and California.
