North Shore Population In Lake County Holds Steady

While Chicago was the only major city in the United States to shrink during the year ending last July, Lake County's population stayed relatively stable. The U.S. Census Bureau released new population data broken down by municipality on Thursday, and none of the county's North Shore communities were estimated to have changed by more than 60 people. The data show slight declines in the number of residents in Highland Park, Highwood and Lake Bluff, while Deerfield, Bannockburn and Lake Forest grew slightly.

Between 2015 and 2016, Highwood lost 20 residents, Lake Bluff's population declined by three people and Highland Park shrunk by 60. The same Census population estimates show Lake Forest's population growing by six, Bannockburn's rising by just three people and Deerfield adding another four.Looking at population changes since 2010, every one of Lake County's North Shore communities lost population except for Deerfield, which grew by an estimated 731 people.

» Read more from the Lake County News-Sun

» Find more data from the U.S. Census Bureau

The Census reports that small and mid-sized 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.

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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 Colombia reported faster housing unit growth than a decade ago.

» Read more from the U.S. Census Bureau

Top photo | Patch file