• About Us
  • Write For Us
  • Advertising
  • Support
  • Contact Us
May 28, 2023 10:59 am CDT
LISTEN LIVE:
No Result
View All Result
Heartland Newsfeed
Call Now: 844-592-0768
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Illinois
    • Local
      • Capital Area
      • East Central Illinois
      • West Central Illinois
    • Regional
      • Chicagoland
      • Metro-East
      • Northern Illinois
      • Quad Cities
      • Southern Illinois
    • Obits
    • Executive Watch
    • Legislative Watch
    • Road Conditions
      • Illinois
    • Weather Closings
      • Central Illinois
  • Missouri
    • Regional
      • Northeastern Missouri
      • East Central Missouri
      • St. Louis Metro
      • Southeast Missouri
    • Executive Watch
    • Legislative Watch
    • Weather Closings
      • Greater STL Metro (IL/MO)
    • Road Conditions
      • Missouri
  • Weather
  • National
  • World
  • Sports
    • Basketball
      • NBA
    • Bowling
    • Boxing
    • Football
      • Arena Football
      • CFL
      • NFL
      • XFL
      • USFL
    • Golf
      • PGA
    • Hockey
      • NAHL
      • NHL
    • MLB
      • MiLB
    • MMA
      • UFC
    • NCAA
      • Basketball
      • Football
    • Olympics
    • Preps
    • Racing
      • Horse Racing
      • NASCAR
    • Soccer/Futbol
      • Bundesliga
      • Champions League
      • FIFA
      • La Liga
      • MLS
      • NWSL
      • Premier League
      • U.S. National Soccer
      • USL
      • USL Championship
    • Tennis
    • Wrestling
      • AEW
      • Independents
      • MLW
      • NJPW
      • NWA
      • ROH
      • WWE
  • Entertainment
    • Crossword
    • News Quiz
  • Opinion
    • Letters To The Editor
    • Editorial
    • Columnists
  • Radio
    • Affiliates
    • Live Video
      • HLNF Live
      • RTMP Direct
    • Network Schedule
    • Network Streams
    • Podcasts
      • Radio Network
      • Podcast Network
  • Features
    • Classifieds
      • Current Ads
      • Job Board
        • Job Listings
        • J2CTalroo
        • Post a Job
        • Receive Alerts
        • ZipSearch
    • Community Calendar
    • News Feeds
      • Statehouse
      • Legislative
      • Breaking News
  • Store
  • Deals
  • Calendar

No products in the cart.

Heartland Newsfeed
No Result
View All Result

OP-ED: Illinois population decline should be a wake-up call

Guest Poster by Guest Poster
April 18, 2019
in Commentary, Editorial, Illinois, Illinois Executive Watch, Illinois Legislative Watch, Opinion, Opinion-Editorial, Politics, Taxpayer Outrage
Reading Time: 3 mins read
Donate
0

Illinoisans have been hearing their state is shrinking for five years now. But new figures released Thursday say something they’ve never heard.

From Walla Walla to Waco, there are 383 metropolitan statistical areas, or MSAs, across the country. Illinois is home base for 10 of them. From July 2017 to July 2018, all 10 shrank.

That’s never happened before. And many other figures from the new release are disturbing.

No other state in the lower 48 saw all of its metros shrink. Illinois joins Alaska, which saw both of its MSAs (Fairbanks and Anchorage) lose population, as the only states with red across the board.

The Chicago MSA saw the largest raw decline of any metro area in the nation over the year, shrinking by 22,000 people. Losing so much talent is undoubtedly a bad sign. But 22,000 people is 0.2% of that area’s population. In terms of the scale and speed of decline, other parts of Illinois stand among the nation’s worst-off.

Since 2010, the Decatur area has lost 5.5% of its population. That’s 7th worst among all metros nationwide.

The Danville area has lost 5.9% of its population over that time. Only four MSAs nationwide have seen worse declines.

The Census Bureau also released county-level data, where other stories emerge.

Alexander County in Southern Illinois, home of Cairo, has lost an astonishing 26% of its population since 2010. That’s the heaviest loss of any county in the nation.

Rockford’s Winnebago County has lost 3.7% of its residents since 2010. That’s only a trickle compared with Alexander. But among U.S. counties with over 200,000 people, it’s fifth-worst. St. Clair County’s loss of 3.4% comes in close behind at No. 8.

Of Illinois’ 102 counties, 86 lost population over the year. And 93 have lost population since 2010.

The overwhelming driver of this decline is simple: the flight of Illinoisans to greener pastures, and a lack of new bodies from elsewhere to replace them. An aging population means less natural growth from births outweighing deaths, which makes migration patterns matter even more.

In 2004, Federal Reserve economist Joshua Gallin published a methodology for estimating the drivers of state-to-state migration decisions, accounting for things like climate, age and labor market conditions. An Illinois Policy Institute analysis using the Gallin method shows the labor market has driven the majority of Illinois’ outmigration.

The state’s punishing tax climate and ominous mountain of debt have repelled new jobs and investment. People follow.

It’s important to note that this is the first local population data Illinoisans have seen covering the year after state lawmakers passed the largest permanent income tax hike in state history. By costing Illinois thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in economic activity, the 2017 income tax hikes made the Land of Lincoln a less attractive place to live.

Residents are again hearing the same song. Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s $3.4 billion “fair tax” hike will be on the docket when lawmakers return to Springfield at the end of the month. This old, failed formula won’t fix Illinois’ most pressing problem.

“Think Big” was one of the governor’s campaign slogans. State lawmakers need to extend that sentiment to something besides tax hikes.

Austin Berg is a writer for the Illinois Policy Institute. Austin can be reached at aberg@illinoispolicy.org.

Guest Poster
+ posts
  • Guest Poster
    https://www.heartlandnewsfeed.com/author/guestposter/
    LETTERS: Ranked choice voting
  • Guest Poster
    https://www.heartlandnewsfeed.com/author/guestposter/
    JASE Medical is disrupting the medical industry
  • Guest Poster
    https://www.heartlandnewsfeed.com/author/guestposter/
    Four gifts for the sports enthusiast on Prime Day
  • Guest Poster
    https://www.heartlandnewsfeed.com/author/guestposter/
    The basics to protecting your family's financial health

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr
  • Telegram
  • Print
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...
Tags: CairoChicagoDanvilleDecaturIllinoisIllinois Policy InstituteJoshua GallinRockfordU.S. Census Bureau
Share196Tweet123Share5Send
.
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Five things you should know before purchasing auto insurance

    670 shares
    Share 268 Tweet 168
  • Nokomis council passes dumpster ordinance

    550 shares
    Share 220 Tweet 138
  • Illinois to see two gas hikes in 2023

    543 shares
    Share 217 Tweet 136
  • Viola Armstrong, 92, Pana

    537 shares
    Share 215 Tweet 134
  • Leto Voudrie, 83, Moweaqua

    535 shares
    Share 214 Tweet 134

HOURS AND INFO

800 Capps Ave.
Nokomis, IL 62075-1415
admin@heartlandnewsfeed.com
Online all the time 
Office Hours: 8 AM to 8 PM
Newsroom: (217) 569-4230
Listen Line: 
(217) 569-4230 ext. 1
Advertising: 
(217) 718-5281
After-Hours: 
(217) 565-9709 / (217) 565-9273

Sitemap | Published Press | Privacy Policy
Staff Email | Independent Media

LIVE WEBSITE VIEWERS

.
ADVERTISEMENT

DEADLINES

Daily: 11 p.m. Central
Weekend
: 11 p.m. Central
Sports: 11 p.m. Central

Upcoming deadlines
TBD

Some rights reserved 2017-2023 by Heartland Newsfeed, a subsidiary partnership by Heartland Internet Media Networks and Heartland Media Group of Central Illinois LLC. Content published by Heartland Newsfeed staff is covered by the BipCot NoGov license. This allows use and re-use by anyone except governments and government agents. License on record. JNews theme designed and developed by Jegtheme.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Politics
    • Business
    • World
    • Science
  • Entertainment
    • Gaming
    • Music
    • Movie
    • Sports
  • Tech
    • Apps
    • Gear
    • Mobile
    • Startup
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Fashion
    • Health
    • Travel

Some rights reserved 2017-2023 by Heartland Newsfeed, a subsidiary partnership by Heartland Internet Media Networks and Heartland Media Group of Central Illinois LLC. Content published by Heartland Newsfeed staff is covered by the BipCot NoGov license. This allows use and re-use by anyone except governments and government agents. License on record. JNews theme designed and developed by Jegtheme.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

00:00
00:00
WP Radio
WP Radio
OFFLINE LIVE
%d bloggers like this: