Most North Shore Towns Shrinking Slightly, Census Data Shows

Not only did Chicago lose some of its residents for the third consecutive year, but most North Shore municipalities in Cook County also declined in population between 2015 and 2016, according to new estimates released by the U.S. Census Thursday.

Among the cities and villages of Evanston, Skokie, Glenview, Northbrook, Winnetka, Wilmette, Niles, Morton Grove, Glencoe and Kenilworth, only Glenview was projected to have grown for the year ending in 2016. Census data shows a slight decline in population in each of the other locales.

Check out the graph below to see how population estimates have changed for each of the past six years:

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The Census reports that small and midsized towns in the U.S. are experiencing significant regional variation.

Growth in the South and southwest of the country outpaces all other areas, with 10 of the 15 fastest growing cities located across the south, according to the new data.

Small towns with a population under 5,000 saw a declining population in the Northeast and Midwest while and a rise in the South and West.

According to the Census, the average changes since 2015 showed:

• Northeast small towns' population fell 0.5 percent.
• Midwest small towns' population fell by 0.3 percent.
• Southern small towns' population grew by 0.2 percent.
• With the largest growth, populations of small towns in the West rose by an average of 0.8 percent.

Medium sized cities with a population of between 5,000 and 10,000 residents grew in three out of the four regions, on average. In the Northeast, such towns saw a slight decline of 0.1 percent since the 2010 census.

As for housing, the Census said the nation's housing stock is growing but still below pre-2007 levels in nearly every state. Housing stock was up by 911,000 last year, reaching 135.7 million. But the growth rate of 0.7 percent last year was roughly half of 2007 levels. Only Iowa, North Dakota and the District of Columbia reported faster housing unit growth than a decade ago.

» Read more from the U.S. Census Bureau