Rockford Ranked 11th For City Population Decline

ROCKFORD, IL — USA Today released a new report Thursday detailing the 50 cities Americans are abandoning the fastest. In the "Population migration patterns" report, three Illinois areas made the top 20; Rockford at number 11 and Peoria at 18. The Chicago region was put at none other than number 1 for largest population decrease. Rockford was also ranked the 16th worst city to live in, which is detailed below.

In the USA Today report, Rockford had the 11th largest net population loss of any U.S. city between 2010 and 2017, thanks to -18,789, or a 3.2 percent decline due to migration.

However, according to the report, Rockford grew with 30,366 births compared to 22,915 deaths.

More statistics on Rockford making it number 11:

• The city's median home value was $121,600.
• Side note: USA Today found Rockford as the 16th worst city to live in due to its unemployment rate of 7.7 percent and violent crime rate of 1,658 incidents in 2016 per 100,000 residents.

As stated above, USA Today found the Chicago region was number 1 in terms of largest population decrease, with 296,320 people leaving between 2010 and 2017.

18) Peoria, Illinois

• Population decrease due to migration, 2010-2017: -14,415
• Population change, 2010-2017: -1.8% (379,186 to 372,427)
• Natural growth, 2010-2017: 35,268 births, 27,573 deaths
• Median home value: $136,800

To see all 50 cities and for more details, view the entire report.

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