Years of population decline mean that Illinois will lose one of its 18 United States House of Representative seats for the next decade.
Illinois’ population, as determined by the 2020 decennial census, dropped in the past decade from 12,830,632, to 12,812,508. That’s a loss of 18,124 between the 2010 and 2020 census.
And not surprisingly many of the factors that cause people to leave Illinois are related to its government. According to a 2016 survey by the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University, “Taxes are the single biggest reason people want to leave, the weather is next, followed by government and jobs. Specifically, 27 percent cite taxes as the motive for departing, 16 percent say weather, 15 percent cite government and 13 percent name jobs and education.”
Based on Census data, six other states will also lose a seat in Congress, including California, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. States that will be gaining seats are Colorado, Florida, Montana, North Carolina, Oregon, and Texas.