New Census Data Shows Population Decrease In Wheaton, Glen Ellyn

Wheaton IL

13 August, 2021

5:04 PM

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WHEATON, IL — The population of Wheaton and Glen Ellyn decreased in the past decade, according to the largest set of data yet from the 2020 U.S. Census. Wheaton went from recording 53,045 residents in 2010 to 52,745 residents in 2020. That represents a decrease of nearly .6 percent over the past decade. Glen Ellyn reported 27,773 residents in 2010 and 27,714 residents in 2020. This shows a population dip of just over .2 percent in the village over the past decade. From 2010 to 2020, 87 of Illinois' 103 counties lost residents — with 14 counties seeing their populations decline by more 10 percent. (NIU) Population trends in Illinois mirror those of the nation as a whole during the past decade. More urban areas are growing. Rural and less densely populated areas are growing slower or shrinking. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 53 percent of the nation's counties lost residents, but 81 percent of metropolitan areas grew during the past 10 years. Every county in the Chicago area added population, with Kendall, Will, DuPage and Lake counties' population rising at the highest rate. Kane and McHenry counties grew the slowest. Illinois was one of three states — along with Mississippi and West Virginia — to lose population during the past 10 years, recording 18,124 fewer residents in 2020 than in 2010. But Chicago remains the nation's third-largest city, at least for the moment. The population of Houston is projected to eventually surpass it. But the sprawling 627-square-mile Texan city still trailed Chicago by about 442,000 residents. Although Chicago lost almost 7 percent of its population in the decade leading up to the 2010 census, the city grew by 1.9 percent during the past decade, adding nearly 51,000 additional residents. Still, that was the slowest growth rate and smallest population growth of any of the 10 largest U.S. cities. Aurora is the second-largest city in Illinois, with a population of 180,542. The city lost more than 17,000 residents in the last decade. Joliet, the third largest, grew by 2 percent to reach 150,362 residents. Naperville added more than 5 percent to reach a population of 149,540, the state's fourth-largest, and Rockford lost nearly 3 percent of its population, going from the third-largest city in the state in 2010 to the fifth largest in 2020. A visualization produced by the Center for Governmental Studies at Northern Illinois University shows population changes in the 2020 census. Areas in light green grew by 0 to 10%, dark green by 10% or more, while areas in yellow shrunk by 0 to 10% and red by 10% or more. (NIU) Information released Thursday was originally due to be made public in the spring, but delays associated with the coronavirus pandemic led to delays. The data will be used to redraw congressional districts ahead of next year's elections. Illinois is one of seven states that will lose a seat. In a game of partisan musical chairs, the super-majority of Democrats in the Illinois General Assembly will seek to enact new maps that cuts one of the congressional delegation's five Republicans rather than one of its 13 Democrats from the mix when the state is reduced to 17 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives after the midterms. But the latest census data will not be used to redraw state legislative districts in Illinois. In a party-line vote in May, Democratic lawmakers in Springfield approved new House and Senate district maps. Gov. J.B. Pritzker had pledged to veto partisan maps. But in June he signed into law the new district boundaries, which relied on estimates from the American Communities Survey instead of the full 2020 Census Redistricting Data. Related: Illinois Losing Congressional Seat With 2020 Census Apportionment New Census Data Ranks Naperville 4th Largest City In Illinois Patch editor Jonah Meadows contributed.