Yesterday, the 2010 Census numbers came out for my home state of Illinois. The results were: As expected, the Collar Counties,especially the Outer Collar Counties of Lake, McHenry, Kane, Kendall, Grundy, and Kankakee (although its own region, it has become increasingly linked to Chicagoland), its growth has skyrocketed. The Inner Collar of Northern Cook, DuPage, Will, and Southern Cook grew fairly huge as well. Downstate, Monroe County gets the fastest-growing county in Illinois outside of Chicagoland award.
Conversely, Henderson, Alexander, Pulaski, and Gallatin Counties have the biggest population loss in the state.
The main focus on this diary will be on the Metro East region, which I live in.
Belleville remains the largest city in the Metro East region, but Granite City moves to second (despite losing population), and coming in at 3rd: O'Fallon. East St. Louis continues to lose more people, as does Alton.
Minority groups fuel growth to the Metro East:
Census numbers released Tuesday showed what some metro-east residents already knew: Minority groups fueled the area's growth this past decade.
Fairview Heights Alderman Speed Allen, the city's first black council member, said it was no surprise the census numbers showed an increase in minority populations.
Allen said he could see the population shift by the number of minority businesses that are interested in opening stores in Fairview Heights.
"There is a client base," Allen said, "and they want to work in a positive environment. They want this business climate."
Allen said such change is progress, and he wants to help minority businesses thrive in the city.
Here are some trends of minority growth:
* The black population grew by 30.5 percent to 82,302 in St. Clair County and now accounts for a third of its population. There was a 12.1 increase in Madison County, which has 21,235 black residents.
* The Hispanic population grew by 56.8 percent to 8,785 in St. Clair County and nearly doubled to 7,313 in Madison County.
* The Asian population rose to 3,276 residents in St. Clair, a 41 percent increase, and to 2,254 residents in Madison County, a 46 percent increase.
The Metro-East Area is having a huge surge in population, focused on the towns/cities/villages of Maryville, Troy, Edwardsville, O'Fallon, Shiloh, Mascoutah, and Highland.
The Metro East has grown steadily over the past decade, with more people living in seven of the eight counties than in 2000.
Monroe County, with just under 33,000 people, is one of the fastest-growing areas in the state, on pace with several collar counties of Chicago, which remains by far the largest city in Illinois. But it has shrunk by nearly 7 percent.
at 44,478.
The other Metro East counties that grew over the decade include Bond, Calhoun, Clinton and Jersey. Only Macoupin County dropped in population.
The gain in St. Clair County is significant in that it reverses a population decline from 1990 to 2000 and does so as its once biggest city, East St. Louis, continues a skid, dropping 14 percent, to below 30,000 residents.
The largest gain comes in O'Fallon, which saw its population jump by 29 percent, becoming the third-largest city in the Metro East. Ten years ago, it was ranked sixth. It surpasses East St. Louis, Alton and Collinsville. Granite City lost population but moved from third to second.
"We're not surprised," said O'Fallon city administrator Walter Denton. "We did special censuses in 2005 and 2008, so we knew we were growing."
But Denton thought the population would be closer to 30,000. The official census number is 28,281, up from 21,910.
The BND article on where the growing population is headed to is coming from the Democratic strongholds below the bluffs into swingy and GOP-leaning bastions above the bluff.
People for decades have been moving away from the Mississippi River and to the bluff-top and rural communities.
Almost 16,000 residents moved from East St. Louis in the decade before the 1980 census, though the city was still the biggest in St. Clair County with 55,200 residents. In 1990, East St. Louis was still losing people, allowing Belleville to become the county's most populous city even though it saw modest growth.
Thirty years later, East St. Louis's population is not even half what it was in 1970. The 2009 estimate was 28,753 and some believe it could drop below 25,000 when the 2010 census results are released today.
East St. Louisans, black and white, were fleeing poverty, crime and a housing shortage.
New home construction was a big reason cited for the population shift to communities above the river bluffs and in rural areas. Farm land was developed into subdivisions.
St. Clair County passes up Madison County on the list:
St. Clair County has surpassed Madison County in population, according to census data released today.
The final census numbers put St. Clair County's population at 270,056, a 5.5 percent increase over 2000. Madison County's population rose to 269,282, an increase of 4 percent.
Madison County had passed St. Clair County in population for the first time in 2000.
The impact of politics regarding the Census report:
Today, the U.S. census rolls out the demographic details for Illinois, telling us where our communities have gained and lost and how they have changed.
The counts will determine how the financial pie is sliced and could very likely change the metro-east's balance of political power.
While Democratic strongholds in East St. Louis and Belleville shrink or tread water, leaders in more conservative communities such as O'Fallon and Shiloh expect strong growth.
"I think as the population moves away from East St. Louis to the eastern part of the county, Republicans are going to do better and better," St. Clair County Republican Party Chairman Jon McLean said. "We expect to pick up a couple County Board seats in the outer county" in the 2012 election.
Election data for the Metro-East and projections for the 2012 Presidential Elections by county.
Bond County:
2010 Senate:
Giannoulias (D): 33.8
Kirk (R): 60.8
2010 Governor:
Quinn (D): 33.6
Brady (R): 61
2008 Senate:
Durbin (D): 58
Sauerberg (R): 39
2008 Presidential:
Obama (D): 48%
McCain (R): 50%
2004 Presidential:
Kerry (D): 43.8%
Bush 43 (R): 55.2%
2012 Presidential Elections forecast: Lean R
Calhoun County:
2010 Senate:
Giannoulias (D): 42.2
Kirk (R): 51.4
2010 Governor:
Quinn (D): 41.8
Brady (R): 53.4
2008 Senate:
Durbin (D): 68
Sauerberg (R): 28
2008 Presidential:
Obama (D): 53%
McCain (R): 45%
2004 Presidential:
Kerry (D): 50.5%
Bush 43 (R): 48.7%
2012 Presidential Elections forecast: Likely D
Clinton County:
2010 Senate:
Giannoulias (D): 26.6
Kirk (R): 68.3
2010 Governor:
Quinn (D): 28.3
Brady (R): 66.2
2008 Senate:
Durbin (D): 56
Sauerberg (R): 40
2008 Presidential:
Obama (D): 44%
McCain (R): 54%
2004 Presidential:
Kerry (D): 39.7%
Bush 43 (R): 59.7%
2012 Presidential Elections forecast: Likely R
Jersey County:
2010 Senate:
Giannoulias (D): 32.9
Kirk (R): 60.7
2010 Governor:
Quinn (D): 32.7
Brady (R): 61.6
2008 Senate:
Durbin (D): 59
Sauerberg (R): 36
2008 Presidential:
Obama (D): 48%
McCain (R): 50%
2004 Presidential:
Kerry (D): 45.3%
Bush 43 (R): 53.6%
2012 Presidential Elections forecast: Lean R to tossup
Macoupin County:
2010 Senate:
Giannoulias (D): 38.4
Kirk (R): 54.8
2010 Governor:
Quinn (D): 36.7
Brady (R): 56.5
2008 Senate:
Durbin (D): 65
Sauerberg (R): 32
2008 Presidential:
Obama (D): 54%
McCain (R): 44%
2004 Presidential:
Kerry (D): 49.1%
Bush 43 (R): 50.1%
2012 Presidential Elections forecast: Likely D
Madison County (my home county):
2010 Senate:
Giannoulias (D): 40.0
Kirk (R): 54.2
2010 Governor:
Quinn (D): 40.3
Brady (R): 54.1
2008 Senate:
Durbin (D): 60
Sauerberg (R): 35
2008 Presidential:
Obama (D): 54%
McCain (R): 45%
2004 Presidential:
Kerry (D): 51.3%
Bush 43 (R): 48.0%
2012 Presidential Elections forecast: Safe D
Madison County's bluff communities continued to grow.
The village of Maryville's population rocketed by 61 percent to 7,487.
Other growth cities on the hill included:
* Glen Carbon, which grew by 24 percent to 12,934.
* Troy, which grew by 16 percent to 9,888.
* Edwardsville, which grew by 13 percent to 24,293.
Collinsville grew at a more modest rate of 3.5 percent. Its population is now 25,579.
The cities closer to the Mississippi River continued to lose population. Granite City's population fell by 4.6 percent to 29,849, and Alton's population fell to 27,865, a decrease of 8.6 percent.
Venice lost 25 percent; Madison fell 14 percent.
Monroe County:
2010 Senate:
Giannoulias (D): 30
Kirk (R): 66.6
2010 Governor:
Quinn (D): 32.3
Brady (R): 64
2008 Senate:
Durbin (D): 51
Sauerberg (R): 46
2008 Presidential:
Obama (D): 44%
McCain (R): 55%
2004 Presidential:
Kerry (D): 41.5%
Bush 43 (R): 57.8%
2012 Presidential Elections forecast: Safe R
Randolph County:
2010 Senate:
Giannoulias (D): 38.3
Kirk (R): 54.2
2010 Governor:
Quinn (D): 39.5
Brady (R): 53.5
2008 Senate:
Durbin (D): 61
Sauerberg (R): 36
2008 Presidential:
Obama (D): 49%
McCain (R): 50%
2004 Presidential:
Kerry (D): 45.3%
Bush 43 (R): 54.0%
2012 Presidential Elections forecast: Tossup
St. Clair County:
2010 Senate:
Giannoulias (D): 47.9
Kirk (R): 47.5
2010 Governor:
Quinn (D): 48.4
Brady (R): 46.7
2008 Senate:
Durbin (D): 64
Sauerberg (R): 31
2008 Presidential:
Obama (D): 62%
McCain (R): 37%
2004 Presidential:
Kerry (D): 55.1%
Bush 43 (R): 44.4%
2012 Presidential Elections forecast: Safe D
St. Clair County got a boost in its population, from Belleville and cities to the north and east.
Belleville's population rose to 44,478, an increase of 7.4 percent from the census count in 2000. But the number released Tuesday was less than the 45,506 total used by the city in a special count completed after a dispute over the 2000 census.
Shiloh was one of the fastest growing cities in the metro-east, showing a 65.6 percent population increase since the 2000 census. Its population rose to 12,651.
Following are three of St. Clair County's growing cities and villages:
* Fairview Heights grew by 13.6 percent to 17,078.
* Swansea grew by 26.9 percent to 13,430.
* O'Fallon grew by 29.10 percent to 28,281.
East St. Louis fared far worse. Once the county's most populous city just over 20 years ago, East St. Louis saw its population fall another 14.4 percent in the decade, to 27,006.
Washington County:
2010 Senate:
Giannoulias (D): 26.3
Kirk (R): 67.6
2010 Governor:
Quinn (D): 25.6
Brady (R): 67.6
2008 Senate:
Durbin (D): 53
Sauerberg (R): 43
2008 Presidential:
Obama (D):
McCain (R):
2004 Presidential:
Kerry (D): 36.8%
Bush 43 (R): 62.6%
2012 Presidential Elections forecast: Safe R
Population Changes by county: Counties that grew population: Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Jersey, Madison, Monroe, St. Clair
Counties that lost population: Macoupin, Randolph, Washington