Illinois Legislative News: February 2, 2026
Third Reading Consulting Group
On January 27, the U.S. Census Bureau released its Vintage 2025 Population Estimates. The new population figures, which estimate the 2025 population using a baseline figure from the 2020 Census, show that the overall U.S. population grew by 0.5% (or 1.8M people). This was the nation’s slowest population growth since the early period of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, when the population grew by 0.2%. The slower national growth in 2025 also comes on the heels of a sizable uptick in 2024, when the country grew by 1.0% (or 3.2M people). In 2025, births and deaths were relatively stable compared to the prior year. The slowdown in growth is almost entirely due to a historic decline in net international migration, which dropped from 2.7M to 1.3M people from July 2024 to July 2025, largely prompted by the Trump administration’s crackdowns.
The Census estimates show that Illinois experienced a slight gain in population over the last year. The state grew by 0.001%, or an estimated 16,108 residents in 2025. This increase was 77% lower than the 69,644 residents added in 2024. The Midwest was the only region where all states gained population from July 2024 to July 2025, but the states varied in how much of an increase they observed. For example, Michigan added 27,992 residents, Ohio added 39,889 residents, and Iowa added 7,933 residents. Many states with a similar population size to Illinois saw little or no population gain, with New York only adding 1,008 residents, California losing 9,465 residents, and Pennsylvania adding 13,584 residents. The two outliers were Florida and Texas, which added 196,680 and 391,243 residents, respectively.
Mirroring national trends, slowing net international migration was the primary factor behind Illinois’ slower population growth in 2025. The Chicago area has long been one of the country’s leading destinations for international immigrants, helping drive both recent and historic population growth in the state of Illinois. After a year of significant international migration in 2024, the number of new international arrivals to Illinois decreased by 60% in 2025 to only 44,752. The level of international immigration to Illinois was roughly comparable to 40,492 international immigrants who arrived between July 2022 and July 2023, at the tail-end of the COVID-19 pandemic. Other Midwest states saw varying levels of international immigration, with Wisconsin receiving 7,260, Ohio 28,505, and Michigan 32,502 international immigrants. Other large-population states saw much higher levels of international immigration, with New York adding 95,634 international immigrants, California adding 109,278 international immigrants, and Texas adding 167,475 international immigrants.
Alternatively, Illinois’ long standing trend of domestic outmigration showed improvement, despite the state continuing to shed residents to other states. About 40,000 residents left Illinois for other states in 2025, compared to the 56,235 people who left for other states between July 2023 and July 2024 and the 83,839 residents who left between July 2022 and July 2023, representing the lowest domestic outmigration total in the last 15 years.
Important Upcoming Dates – Statewide
February 6 – Bill Introduction Deadline
February 18 – Governor’s State of the State and Budget Address
March 13 – Initial Chamber Committee Deadline (Senate)
March 27 – Initial Chamber Committee Deadline (House)
April 17 – Initial Chamber Third Reading Deadline
May 8 – Opposite Chamber Committee Deadline
May 22 – Opposite Chamber Third Reading Deadline
May 31 – Adjournment