The U.S. Census Bureau announced recently that Illinois is one of seven states poised to lose a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives after its population decreased over the last decade. 

While it does not have the block-level data needed to redraw maps ready for states yet, the Census Bureau now has the apportionment data needed to determine the allotment of the 435 House seats. 

According to the population count used for apportioning seats, Illinois lost 18,124 residents between 2010 and 2020. 

That means the population decreased by about .1 percent, putting it at 12,812,508. 

That number does not include Illinoisans who are living overseas. If you include those individuals, the population was down 41,641, or approximately .3 percent, to 12,822,739.

Residents will not know until later this year how House districts will be affected by the population loss. 

Of the 18 House districts currently in the state, experts expected last year that the 15th Congressional District represented by Mary Miller (R-Oak Park) may be the one that disappears or changes the most because its population had dropped an estimated 14,000 in recent years, putting it at around 690,000 people. 

Districts must currently have roughly 710,000 residents in them. 

Since that is a neighboring district, the change may affect what areas Rep. Mike Bost (R-Murphysboro) represents or who represents Monroe County. 

With 17 House seats, there would be roughly 754,000 people represented by each representative, the Census Bureau reported. 

Still, the population loss was less than some expected because some experts thought Illinois may lose two seats. 

The state has lost at least one congressional representative in eight of the last nine decades. 

Illinois Republicans have long said the declining population is a major problem facing the state, arguing the reason for the out-migration is Democratic laws and policies. 

Local Republicans repeated that message after the announcement. 

“It should sadly come as no surprise that the Democrats’ job-killing, tax-hiking agenda is driving people away from Illinois in droves,” Bost said. 

State Rep. David Friess (R-Red Bud) also commented on the matter. 

“Continued out-migration from poor policy is the leading cause,” he said on Facebook. “We must reverse this trend by passing fiscally sound, pro-business policy.” 

Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, attributed the population loss primarily to college students choosing not to attend school here. 

He said he was “concerned” about the population loss, describing it as a trend that has been taking place “for more than a decade,” according to Capitol News Illinois. 

“We’ve got to turn that around,” Pritzker said. “That’s something that unfortunately before I became governor was a bit set in clay, if not stone. And now, we’re working very hard to make sure we’re going in the right direction.”