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.