(KFTK) – Outmigration has been a common issue in Illinois. The state is considered the Nation’s worst population decline of the decade.
“When you don’t create opportunity then it’s hard to find the talent to come here,” Illinois Policy’s Orphe Divounguy said on the snowball effect happening.
As the state gets smaller, there is less representation in DC. Which might lead to losing a Congressional seat.
Divounguy said the focus has to start with the corruption. If the corruption can be resolved, then start to work on taxes and crime can move up the list.
U.S. Census data reveal the following highlights:- In 2019, Illinois lost 105,000 residents to other states. That means one resident moved away every 5 minutes.
- Only two states, California and New York, lost more people to other states over the year.
- Illinois saw the worst population loss of any state over the decade, in raw terms. The state’s population declined by 168,700 people from 2010-2019, which is more than the population of Naperville, Illinois’ third-largest city.
- None of the five fastest-growing states of the decade – Utah, Texas, Colorado, Nevada and Florida – have progressive income tax rate structures. Meanwhile, four of the five slowest-growing states of the decade – West Virginia, Illinois, Connecticut, Vermont and Mississippi – have progressive income tax rate structures. Illinois voters will be asked if they want to scrap a constitutionally-mandated flat income tax structure on the Nov. 3, 2020, ballot.
- If the state had simply grown at the same rate as the national average since 2007, Illinois’ population would be 1.14 million residents, or 9%, larger than it is today. This population growth would bring $78 billion in additional economic activity to the state, equivalent to the entire state economy of Delaware.
Read more from Illinois Policy, here.
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