Steady Staten

[muon2]

The same is true for the collar counties of Cook in IL. DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will have all grown in every Census since 1840. McHenry is down by 0.5% since 2010, so the string might be broken this decade.

[muon2]

The same is true for the collar counties of Cook in IL. DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will have all grown in every Census since 1840. McHenry is down by 0.5% since 2010, so the string might be broken this decade.

Do you think that's really true though?  McHenry grew by almost 20% in the 2000s.  It's hard to believe it's lost population, especially with the economy picking back up.

The loss of the suburban tax base is the unspoken cause of much of the impasse in IL. Kendall's growth rate is one tenth of what it was in the last decade. McHenry lost about 600 people from 2010 to 2015. The collars are where the tax base lives, without its growth the state cannot sustain the growth of its schools, roads, and social safety net.

[muon2]

The same is true for the collar counties of Cook in IL. DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will have all grown in every Census since 1840. McHenry is down by 0.5% since 2010, so the string might be broken this decade.

Do you think that's really true though?  McHenry grew by almost 20% in the 2000s.  It's hard to believe it's lost population, especially with the economy picking back up.

I know McHenry is where Sears moved their HQ after they left downtown, and then it became Sears-Kmart after noted Hedge Fund bloodsucker Eddie Lampert did his thing.  He's been bleeding them dry ever since (not that it would have been easy even if a real retailer ran things).  Must be one of the most depressing places to work at.

Sears moved out to Hoffman Estates in far NW Cook county. There are Sears employees in McHenry county, but not the corporate offices.

[muon2]

Illinois is the 21st State acceding to the Union in 1818. 19 counties were included in the 1820 Census and 49 in 1830.

Illinois Gainers

Since formation in 1830.

Sangamon (Springfield, State capital)

Since formation in 1840.

Champaign (Champaign-Urbana, University of Illinois)
DuPage (west Chicagoland, Naperville, West Chicago)
Kane (far west Chicagoland, Aurora, Elgin)
Lake (north Chicagoland, Waukegan)
McHenry (northwest Chicagoland)
McLean (Bloomington-Normal, Illinois State University)
Will (south Chicagoland, Joliet)
Winnebago (Rockford)

McHenry and Winnebago are down this decade. Lake is up by only 0.06%.

Illinois Losers

80 counties lost population in 1990, but only 14 in 1980. 12 counties lost population in both decades. Six of these have gained in at least one of 2000 and 2010. This leaves 6 counties that have lost since at least 1970:

Stark since 1900. Stark is north of Peoria, and has lost in all but one census since 1880. Overall, it has only lost 47% of its population. Stark is the new national leader.

Greene since 1920. Greene is north of St.Louis and westerly of Springfield. It has lost all but one census since 1890, but has only lost 39% of its population (-0.42% average decline). Greene is second on the national list.

Pike since 1940. Pike is on the Mississippi river northwest of St.Louis. It has lost in all but one census since 2000.

Carroll since 1960. Carroll is on the Mississippi River in northwestern Illinois between Galena and Moline-Rock Island (Illinois duo of Quad Cities). Carroll has experienced decline associated with the reduced force and eventual closure of the Savanna Army Depot.

Ford since 1960. Ford is in east central Illinois, north of Champaign-Urbana and east of Bloomington-Normal. It is adjacent to consistent gainers Champaign and McLean.

Vermilion since 1970. Vermilion is on the Indiana line, east of Champaign-Urbana.

The common characteristic of these counties is rural, with no large towns. The largest towns are around 4000 or so, and may have gained populations as farmers have moved to town as farms consolidated. Towns around 1000 to 1500 appear to be slowly declining due to attrition as they are too small support much commercial activity.

The losses in McHenry should be more alarming to the state than they are. McHenry is predominantly middle and upper-middle class suburbs of Chicago with no large old poor urban center like Aurora or Waukegan. It still has undeveloped ag land in the west so it isn't landlocked. The decline there is a bellwether for the state's economy and reflects on how hard it is to revive the state post recession.

Stark is a favorite county for me to use as an example of a place in the middle of a state most of it's residents haven't been to, and even well-traveled residents haven't heard of. There are no main roads connecting larger cities that go through Stark, so you have to intentionally decide to go there.

Vermilion is the anomaly on the list of losers. It has a respectable small city in Danville (pop 32K) that had been up to 42K as recently as 1970. For a century it was a manufacturing center in the open pit coal mining region of the state, and has a large downtown reflecting its past prominence.

[muon2]

I would think that the steady grinding down of Sears Holding in the Lampert era would have had a considerable effect on McHenry over the last decade.

Not so much. Sears is in Cook, though relatively close to McHenry. When Sears relocated to the burbs many of the employees stayed near the city, so much so that Sears ran bus service to shuttle employees out from Chicago.

It appears that the bigger losses are from small to midsize businesses, not Fortune 500 sized firms.