The U.S. Census Bureau reveals the new count for the U.S. population: 308,745,538. The new figures will be used by everyone from business owners looking for new markets to politicians reallocating legislative seats.
In Illinois, the current Census marks the fourth consecutive Census in which Illinois has lost congressional representation to faster growing states in the South and the West. Illinois will lose one of nineteen congressional seats
Since the 1980 Census, Illinois has lost six U.S. House seats.
The federal Census figures also marked the first release of Illinois’ new population total as of April 1, 2010: 12,830,632 — up 3.3 percent from the 2000 Census population of 12,419,293.