Illinois' population shrunk by more than any other state from 2010 to 2019, according to data released Monday by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Since the beginning of the decade, Illinois has lost 159,751 residents which equals 1.2% of its population. Only one other state, West Virginia, had a higher percentage of population loss at 3.3%, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
In 2019, Illinois' population shrunk by more than 51,000 residents - the largest drop out of any state from 2018 to 2019, data revealed.
Separate data released in April showed the Chicago area's population had fallen for four years in a row.
Nationwide, the U.S. population from the middle of 2018 to the middle of 2019 grew by almost a half percent, or about 1.5 million people, according to the data.
Demographer William Frey of The Brookings Institution says that's the slowest growth rate in the U.S. since 1917 to 1918, when the nation was involved in World War I.
