The “Illinois Exodus” numbers were all spectacularly wrong
Tuesday, Apr 27, 2021
* The Chicago Tribune and the “Illinois Exodus”…
* 2021 John Kass column: Illinois has lost close to a quarter-million taxpayers in the past 10 years in the great Illinois Exodus.
* 2020 Tribune editorial: In 2019, the U.S. Census Bureau calculates, our population fell by about 51,250 people. That’s the equivalent of everyone in Hoffman Estates packing up and heading out.
* 2020 Tribune editorial: Several recent Chicago Tribune stories on tax hikes and population losses may have caught your eye. Against the backdrop of rising taxes in Chicago for 2020, U.S. Census Bureau numbers released Dec. 30 showed Illinois losing population for a sixth straight year.
* 2020 Kristen McQueary column: You’ve seen the numbers. U.S. census data released in December showed Illinois’ net population since 2013 has dropped by more than 223,000 residents, roughly the equivalent of Naperville and Bolingbrook wiped off the map. That number includes births, deaths, domestic and international migration.
* 2019 Kristen McQueary column: Reality check: The number of residents fleeing Illinois for other states jumped to 93,704 in 2014 from 68,204 the previous year. It increased in 2015 to 106,544, and in 2016 to 109,941. More exodus in 2017 of 114,779 and last year, another 114,154.
* 2019 Tribune editorial: Who wants to be the last ones at the party? It only means you’ll have to clean up the mess. That’s what we mean by the Illinois Exodus.
* 2019 Tribune editorial: If [Mayor Lightfoot] keeps talking truth around her fellow Illinois Democrats, Chicago’s next mayor will make them squirm. She must be ignoring the memos instructing her to “Shush up about the ‘Illinois Exodus.’ Bad for our brand.” Lightfoot offered her comment to the Tribune’s Lisa Donovan about U.S. census data showing that the Chicago metro area lost another 22,000 residents from 2017 to 2018.
* 2019 Tribune editorial: Last year’s estimated net reduction of residents hit 45,116, the worst of five straight years of population decline.
* 2019 Tribune editorial: The early numbers show Illinois’ net population dropped from July 2018 to July 2019 by 51,250, down slightly from last year’s net loss of 55,757 residents, an updated number. The figures continue to confirm a sorry trend.
* 2018 Tribune Editorial: People are fleeing. Last year’s net loss: 33,703.
* 2018 Tribune editorial: By the tens of thousands each year, Illinoisans are fleeing this state’s rising taxes and mediocre jobs climate.
* 2018 Tribune editorial: In the big picture, Illinois is shrinking. It lost a net 33,703 people in 2017, and was 1 of 8 states to see a decline. This was Illinois’ fourth year in a row of population decline.
* 2018 Tribune editorial: The release on Wednesday of new census data about Illinois was alarming: Not only has the flight of citizens continued for a fifth straight year, but the population loss is intensifying. This year’s estimated net reduction of 45,116 residents is the worst of these five losing years.
* 2017 Tribune editorial: People are fleeing Illinois in record numbers. For four years running, this state has bled population. In 2017, Illinois lost a net 33,703 residents
* Actual net Illinois population loss according to the official US Census: 18,124. [And subtract 10,289 from that to account for Illinois residents living overseas and it’s a net decline of 7,835.]
It’s not that the Tribune was wrong. The census estimates were way off. But the Tribune did everything it could to hype those numbers and propose solutions to a problem that, while still quite real, was never as bad as was claimed. I’m not sure I’d hold your breath waiting for a clarification.
- Posted by Rich Miller
Above story is from: https://capitolfax.com/2021/04/27/the-illinois-exodus-numbers-were-all-spectacularly-wrong/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
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