Outta Here: These 10 Illinois Counties Are Losing The Most People

According to a recent study by United Van Lines, the state of Illinois ranked #2 overall in states with the most residents deciding that they wanted to live somewhere, or anywhere else in 2022.

People moving out of Illinois made up 63.8% of total migration, meaning only 36.2% of those moving were headed into the state. Only New Jersey had a higher outbound percentage at 66.8%, according to a piece at IllinoisPolicy.org.

The United Van Lines study named these 10 states as having the largest amounts of outbound migration:

1. New Jersey: 66.8%
2. Illinois: 63.8%
3. New York: 61.9%
4. Michigan: 57.8%
5. Wyoming: 57.0%
6. Pennsylvania: 56.8%
7. Massachusetts: 56.6%
8. Nebraska: 56.3%
9. California: 56.0%
10. Louisiana: 56.0%

Illinois Has 102 Counties, And While Our State Is Losing Population At A High Rate, Not Every County Has Seen An Exodus

That may seem like a lot of counties, but Illinois' 102 is only good enough for 7th place in the country overall. Texas leads with 254 counties, followed by Georgia's 159, Virginia's 133, Kentucky's 120, Missouri's 115, and Kansas' 105. Delaware has the least number of counties with 3, Hawaii has 5, and Rhode Island has 5.

Illinois has the 6th largest population in the country, and even though Chicago is known as the 2nd city, they're actually the 3rd largest city behind New York and Los Angeles

Now, Let's Get To The Illinois Counties That Residents Are Lining Up To Get Away From

With a hat-tip to A-Z-Animals.com, here's the list of Illinois' biggest population-losing counties, along with the number of residents that have left over the last year:

1. Cook County: 166,230 Residents
2. DuPage County: 11,986 Residents
3. Lake County: 5,201 Residents
4. Peoria County: 3,450 Residents
5. Winnebago County: 3,162 Residents
6. Macon County: 2,520 Residents
7. Kane County: 2,338 Residents
8. Madison County: 1,944 Residents
9. LaSalle County: 1,475 Residents
10. Whiteside County: 1,033 Residents