Population loss in Chicago slows Illinois' growth
The state's black population has dwindled. Of the state's 12.8 million residents, 14.3% are black, down from 14.9% in 2000. Hispanics comprise 15.8% of Illinois' population. In 2000, Hispanic residents were 12.3% of the population.
Since 2000, the Hispanic population has grown by 497,316 to 2.03 million, a trend that could portend shifts in political clout. Over the same time span, the black population fell by 23,228 to 1.83 million.
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Sylvia Puente, executive director of the Latino Policy Forum, a public policy and advocacy organization based in Chicago, says the shift was expected and probably occurred in 2006.
Confirmation of the change should translate into more government investment in education, housing and education for the Hispanic community and renewed focus on immigration issues, she says.
"If we aren't investing in the Latino community," she says, "it's no longer going to impact just the Latino community. It's going to impact … the economic viability of the region and the state."
Population losses in Chicago and Cook County slowed the state's growth. Chicago lost 200,418 residents over the decade. Its population is 2,695,598, down from 2,896,016 in 2000.
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Chicago is likely, however, to remain the nation's third largest city; the Census Bureau estimated that Houston gained 140,000 people since 2000 — probably not enough to surpass Chicago. Texas' Census data is expected to be released Thursday.
Joshua Drucker, an assistant professor of economic development at the University of Illinois at Chicago, says the data show a continuation of trends documented in the 2000 Census.
"The Chicago region grew at almost the same pace as the state," he says. Whites and blacks are leaving Chicago in similar numbers, he says, and growth among Hispanics is up in the city and neighboring counties.
Illinois' population grew by 411,339 people, but it will lose one of its 19 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives because other states' growth was bigger.
There was growth in most of the five counties surrounding Chicago and some downstate counties, including Sangamon, home of Springfield, the state capital, and Champaign, where the University of Illinois' main campus is located.
Kendall County, just outside those that abut Chicago, had the most dramatic growth. Its population more than doubled to 114,736. The Census Bureau said in 2008 that it was the USA's fastest-growing county from 2000 to 2007.
Cities that recorded big jumps in population included Aurora and Joliet, both up 38%, and Bolingbrook, up 30%. Those communities all are within commuting range of Chicago.