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For Immediate Release

NIPC Releases Revised County and Municipal Forecasts
(Pre-Public Hearing)

Chicago, May 17, 2000:  The Planning Committee of the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission today released revised forecasts of population, households and employment for counties and municipalities in the year 2020. The forecasts now become central ingredients to the development of an updated Year 2020 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP). Both the forecasts and the RTP will proceed through a round of public hearings currently scheduled for August 2000.

The forecast is for the population of the six-county area to reach 9.045 million in 2020. This is an increase of 1.784 million or 25% over the 1990 figure. Employment will grow by 1.435 million or 37% to 5.28 million. These forecasts are identical to those endorsed by the Commission in November 1997. All new evidence continues to support those previous forecast totals. The revised forecast of households is slightly lower than the 1997 figure, reflecting a stabilization of household sizes following the declines observed in the 1970s and 1980s.

Each of the six counties and the City of Chicago will grow in population and jobs over the forecast period. The revised population forecasts for Cook, Kane and Will counties are slightly higher than those endorsed in 1997, while those for Lake and McHenry counties are slightly lower. These changes reflect the stabilization of household size change in Cook, accelerating growth in Kane and Will, and revised local outlooks in Lake and McHenry. The employment forecasts were adjusted downward from the 1997 figures in Cook and upward in Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will counties. These adjustments were made to accommodate the changing patterns of employment growth and land development activity since 1990. The population and job forecasts for DuPage County as a whole remain unchanged from the previous forecasts.

The largest numerical gains in population are forecast to occur in Cook and Will counties. Will and McHenry counties will experience the largest percentage gains. Gains in the number of jobs, in spite of the downward adjustment, will still be largest in Cook County. The next highest employment gains will be found in DuPage and Lake counties.

At the municipal level, adjustments to the prior forecasts were made to account for recent growth experience, changes in assumptions about future boundaries, and changes in local plans and expectations. Representatives of 92 municipalities met with NIPC staff to provide information used in making adjustments. Communities with the largest upward adjustment in their forecasts included Joliet, Tinley Park, Orland Park, Plainfield, Round Lake Beach, Johnsburg, Bolingbrook, Des Plaines, Lake in the Hills, and Channahon.

The Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission is the comprehensive planning agency for the six-county metropolitan area. In addition to planning, the agency provides technical and research assistance and reviews state and federal grant requests for local governments.

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