Collar counties a bright spot as region's population dips

Many Cook County suburbs followed Chicago's lead in losing population last year.

But the collar counties fared better, driven by growth in Kane, Kendall, McHenry and Will counties, according to new U.S. Census Bureau data.

DuPage and Lake counties each saw small dips, but some of their towns - Naperville, Deer Park, Deerfield and Vernon Hills - had the biggest gains.

The areas of suburban growth are bright spots in a state that lost 22,194 residents last year, or 0.17 percent of its 2014 population. That's the second greatest percentage decline among the 50 states, according to the figures. Only West Virginia lost a greater percentage of its population last year. But in terms of actual number of residents lost in 2015, Illinois leads by a wide margin.

"People are going to go where the jobs are," said Des Plaines City Manager Michael Bartholomew. "It stems from the uncertainty of the current (state) budget crisis, among other things."

Des Plaines lost 293 residents from 2014 to 2015, according to the census data. However, the city's population is still up 313 residents from its official 2010 census count of 58,364.

Bartholomew said Des Plaines has four new residential developments in the works, setting the stage for growth to come.

"I do find it interesting that in the year past we've had greater interest in residential development than in years prior," Bartholomew said.

Not every Cook County suburb lost residents. Wheeling and Streamwood, for instance, each saw small gains.

The Chicago area's lower than average birthrate and a "particularly impactful" loss of international immigration helped drive the population loss in 2015, said Liz Schuh, a principal policy analyst with the Chicago Metropolitan Agency on Planning. She added the state budget standoff played a part, as well.

"One of the things that businesses want and residents want is a certainty, so the budget stalemate will lead to some uncertainty in economic growth," Schuh said.

Elgin and Naperville bucked the trend of suburban residential flight the most with population gains of 947 and 817 respectively in 2015. Both towns have experienced population gains of more than 3.5 percent since the 2010 census as well, according to the data.

Pingree Grove gained 768 people, Deerfield increased by 639, Deer Park rose by 516 and Vernon Hills grew by 416.

Along with Des Plaines' 293 person decline, Schaumburg lost 232, Hoffman Estates lost 229 and Mount Prospect lost 225. Chicago's population dropped by 2,890.

In Cook County, which experienced the greatest drop in population among counties statewide with 10,488 fewer residents in 2015 than 2014, officials were unconcerned by decline.

"We will assess, but at first blush we don't see any significant change in our operational funds given that the reduction is relatively small," said Frank Shuftan, a spokesman for County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.