Chicago Has Lost Population For 3 Straight Years, & It's The Only Major U.S. City With Losing Streak

By Stephen Gossett in News on May 25, 2017 3:00PM

Getty Images / Photo: Tim Boyle

Well, at least renters and homebuyers should have more options, right?

Once again, Chicago is losing population. Between 2015 and 2016, it was the third consecutive year in which the city saw a net loss in residents. Chicago was the only city among the nation's 20 most populated to see a decline in each of those three years, according to new data from the US Census Bureau.

That also means that Chicago's title of Third Largest City in The Country has become slightly more tenuous. We still hold that designation, but the sprawling, growing Houston continues to nip at our heels. Chicago's population, according to the latest figures, stands at 2,704,958 compared to Houston's 2,303,482. Chicago lost 8,638 residents between 2015 and 2016; Houston gained 18,666.

It should be stressed, however, that Chicago's dip represents just a 0.3 percent decline of total population, and it's actually up from 2010. And a drop is perhaps to be expected given that Illinois as a whole saw the biggest population dip in the country, according to figures released late last year.

But there is cause for some concern. Perhaps the most troubling overall long-term pattern is the city's declining black population. Alden Loury, of the Metropolitan Planning Council, said that figures between 2006 - 2015, found that black communities on the South and West Sides have diminished, according to WTTW. On the other hand, the Asian, white and Hispanic population in Chicago has grown or stayed constant.

A thoughtful recent breakdown of the black flight by Chicago magazine suggested that disproportionate evictions following the housing crisis; poor employment options within neighborhoods; widespread school closures among; and quality-of-life disparities between the city and suburbs as possible reasons.