Illinois Now Forecast to Lose 400,000 Residents in Next 20 Years

There's good news and bad news about a new population forecast for Illinois. The bad news is that the state is forecast to lose almost 400,000 residents in the next couple of decades. The good news is rentals should be easier to find.

This is based on a new ranking just shared by 24/7 Wall St which uses research from the University of Virginia to determine which states will be growing the most between now and the year 2040. When it comes to Illinois, what they forecast is the opposite of growth.

If this study is accurate, Illinois is set to lose 393,624 people over the next 16 years. That would mean just over 3% percentage loss leaving Illinois with "only" a total population of 12,397,564 in the year 2040.

If you're thinking that Illinois has been losing population for decades, that's actually not accurate. Technically, Illinois grew over 3% from the year 2000 through 2020. The departures of residents from the state has been a recent trend that just began one decade ago.

Who's to blame for Illinois losing population? Taxes are a popular topic when it comes to people choosing to live somewhere other than Illinois, but life happens and you must go where your career opportunities are. No matter what factor is the biggest culprit, it appears Illinois will be hemorrhaging citizens for at least the foreseeable unless relocation trends turn around on a dime.