Census: White population in Illinois is shrinking, so is rural

[August 14, 2021]  By Greg Bishop

(The Center Square) – U.S. Census data shows the white population in Illinois is shrinking. So is the rural population.

Northern Illinois University’s Center for Governmental Studies researcher Sherrie Taylor said one trend across the country that was also reflected in Illinois is growing diversity.

“The one community that has really reduced in number is the white population,” Taylor said.

Census data suggests Illinois’ white population dropped at a rate of 14% over the decade.

Some of that could be more race options offered to respondents of the Census this year than in years past.

“So if you are, for example, white and Asian you can only identify those two races, but now you can go up to six different races,” Taylor said. “It gives researchers a lot more detail, but it also opens up the Pandora's box, so to speak … it’s kind of difficult for researchers to do comparisons from one year to the next.”

Taylor notes data shows increased Asian American population in northeast Illinois and Hispanic populations all throughout the state.

Other Census data suggests the people responding they were white in addition to another race increased exponentially from ten years ago.

The estimates over the past decade of Illinois’ exodus are drastically different from the final count. In 2019 it was estimated Illinois lost nearly 169,000 people fewer over the decade.

While the state is one of just three that lost people across the country, Taylor said the final numbers weren’t as drastic.

“When you look at the 2020 data, it’s only 18,000 people from 2010,” Taylor said of the data released Thursday. “Not necessarily a mass exodus in my opinion. Definitely a canary in the coal mine we have to keep an eye on.”

If they’re not moving out of state, the trend is people moving from rural areas to bigger cities. With increased remote working because of COVID, Taylor said the trend could reverse.

“That would open up opportunities for more of these rural counties, if they have the broadband infrastructure to support telecommuting, there’s no reason people can’t live there again,” Taylor said.
 

Kendall County gained nearly 15% population, or around 17,000 people.

“It’s a figment of the sprawl coming out of the city of Chicago,” Taylor said. “Kendall County has the amenities and the developments in order to foster attraction of additional residents, which is great to see.”

But, of 102 counties, 87 counties lost population. Alexander County on the border with Kentucky and Missouri shrank the fastest.

“That county lost 36.4% of their population,” Taylor said. “Now it only totals about 3,000 people total, but that is devastating to those communities in that county.”

Losing more than 18,000 over the past ten years, Illinois is one of three states that lost population.

A major driver for people moving, Taylor said, is jobs.