The population of Hoosier State grew to 6.75 million, up from 6.73 million in 2019, an increase of 23,943 people, according to federal agency estimates.
Illinois’ neighboring population fell by 79,487 to 12.6 million, the second largest loss nationwide after New York State alone, The (Northwest Indiana) Times reported.
The official results of the 2020 census have not yet been published and the new numbers reflect the census office’s annual estimate and not the official count.
Annual estimates show Northwest Indiana has gained population for the first time in years, adding 2,102 more residents last year.
RELATED: Losing Residents: Illinois sees the worst population decline in the country this decade
This increase reverses a long-standing trend that followed the deindustrialization and job losses at the region’s steel mills, Micah Pollak, a professor of economics at Northwestern University in Indiana, in a recent article from the Indiana Business Research Center.
He wrote that better public transport from the expansion of the South Shore Line commuter rail line, “a wider range of high-end retail stores, restaurants and breweries” and bike lanes and expanded green spaces now “they allow the region to better meet the needs and expectations of the next generation.”
“While Northwest Indiana was once a region that many residents expected to leave one day, we now see more people returning, choosing to stay here, or being drawn to the region,” he said. write Pollack.
The video from the previous player is from a previous report.
Copyright © 2020 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.