The Windy City was the only one of the top 10 metropolitan areas to have a net loss in population. The outbound migration from Illinois to surrounding states has been well documented but Chicago's population loss has gone a bit under the radar.

The Chicago area saw a loss of 13,286 residents from 2016 to 2017, their third straight year more people left than came in.  Cook county itself was even worse, seeing a net loss of 20,093 residents. 

The reasons behind the exodus are the usual ones, too many taxes, poor leadership, not enough employment, and bad infrastructure.

Where are the people going? It looks to be south as 3 southern metro areas saw a significant increase.  Dallas, Houston, and Atlanta say increases respectively of 146K, 94K, and 89K residents.

Have the politicians of Illinois reached their breaking point? Only time will tell but it's safe to say that those of us remaining have had about enough of it.

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