Illinois’ Population Is Not 12.8 Million, Says Governor Pritzker
It might surprise you when you hear we have 12.8 million of these in Illinois. What if I told you the number is actually higher?
I've lived in Rockford, Illinois my entire life and I never really thought about how many people lived in the state as a whole. For Rockford, I know there's roughly 150,000 of us just hustling to stay afloat. What about the rest of Illinois?
Here are the populations of cities in the surrounding areas:
- Belvidere: 25,169
- Loves Park: 23,365
- Machesney Park: 22,752
- Roscoe: 10,874
- Byron: 3,768
- Winnebago: 2,894
- Freeport: 23,413
That means 12.8 million people have eaten deep dish pizza, Chicago-style hot dogs, and found themselves deep inside of a pothole? I beg to differ. Something just doesn't seem right about that number.
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According to the the Governor, the population number is quite inaccurate and actually higher than they originally calculated.
"Pritzker said the state gained population and the annual estimates calculated by the U.S. Census Bureau are wrong." [advantage news]
Okay, so did someone undercount and miss a portion of the state? Apparently, that's not too far off from the truth.
Illinois got undercounted, which isn't surprising especially with people flying under the radar and living here illegally.
"sometimes people are homeless and don’t get counted or some people are just hidden and hard to get to and they didn’t get counted,” said Pritzker. “So what did they determine from that? Illinois gained population. We have more than 13 million people in the state of Illinois.” [advantage news]
So there you have it. More than 13 million people are living in the Prairie State.
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Gallery Credit: Getty Images