Peoria Ranked 18th For City Population Decline

PEORIA, IL — USA Today released a new report Thursday detailing the 50 cities Americans are abandoning the fastest. In the "Population migration patterns" report, three Illinois areas made the top 20; Rockford at number 11 and Peoria at 18. The Chicago region was put at none other than number 1 for largest population decrease. Rockford was also ranked the 16th worst city to live in, which is detailed below.

In the USA Today report, Peoria had the 18th largest net population loss of any U.S. city between 2010 and 2017, at -14,415.

However, according to the report, Peoria grew with 35,268 births compared to 27,573 deaths.

More statistics on Peoria's 18th rank:

• The city's median home value was $136,800
• Population change, 2010-2017: -1.8% (379,186 to 372,427)

Over in Rockford, the city was ranked 11th and was also ranked the 16th worst city to live in due to its unemployment rate of 7.7 percent and violent crime rate of 1,658 incidents in 2016 per 100,000 residents.

As stated above, USA Today found the Chicago region was number 1 in terms of largest population decrease, with 296,320 people leaving between 2010 and 2017.

To see all 50 cities and for more details, view the entire report.

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