You can mock them for their love of avocado toast but there are more millennials than any other age group in Chicago and the Cook County suburbs, newly released population figures show.
U.S. Census Bureau data released this week indicates those aged 25 to 34 years old represent the largest chunk of Cook County’s population. That age range covers most, but not all of the generation commonly known as millennials, defined by Pew Research Center as those born from 1981 to 1996, who would now be 22 to 37 years old.
Twenty- and 30-somethings have flocked to urban areas for years, lured by jobs and a variety of amenities, experts say. And millennials are no different, favoring life in the city and nearby suburbs close to public transportation, bars and other nightlife.
“The influx of growth of young people, that’s likely to continue,” said Janet Smith, a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. “We anticipate that for a couple of reasons (including) the growing globalization and technology.”
If Amazon taps Chicago for its second headquarters, that would draw even more millennials as well as other skilled workers, she said.
People who are 25 to 34 years old account for just shy of 850,000 of the county’s 5 million residents, the just-released 2017 census figures show.
But like the overall population of Chicago and Cook County, the number of milllennials in Cook County is falling, data shows. The county lost 20,093 residents in 2017, including an estimated 3,182 aged 25 to 29, census data show.
A closer look at the demographic breakdown shows African-Americans and whites continue to leave the county. Illinois lost the most African-Americans out of all states, and the state ranked third in its loss of whites, said William Frey, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.
But the census figures also showed the county is growing in some ways. There was an increase among those aged 35 to 39 years old, which includes older millennials and the younger members of “Generation X.” And while the county’s Asian and Hispanic populations were on the rise too, the increase isn’t as large as it had been for the area in past years, Frey said.
Millennials also make up the largest slice of the Asian population in Cook County, with largest age group of Asian women being 25 to 29 years old and the largest age group of Asian men being 30 to 34 years old, according to the census data. For Hispanics in Cook County, the largest age group is children ages 10 to 14.
Cook County population change
By age and year group
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Increase from previous year
Decrease from previous year
AGE
GROUP
CHANGE FROM
PREVIOUS YEAR
CHANGE
2010-17
2011
13
15
17
0-4
5-9
10-14
15-19
20-24
25-29
30-34
35-39
40-44
45-49
50-54
55-59
60-64
65-69
70-74
75-79
80-84
85+
-18,247
-16,507
-23,082
-46,994
-27,999
+731
+16,962
+8,523
-18,107
-22,980
-30,626
+25,488
+46,426
+61,359
+38,242
+13,396
-3,213
+13,216
Increase from previous year
Reading this
chart:
Decrease from previous year
AGE
GROUP
CHANGE FROM
PREVIOUS YEAR
CHANGE
2016-17
CHANGE
2010-17
2011
13
15
17
0-4
5-9
10-14
15-19
20-24
25-29
30-34
35-39
40-44
45-49
50-54
55-59
60-64
65-69
70-74
75-79
80-84
85+
-18,247
-16,507
-23,082
-46,994
-27,999
+731
+16,962
+8,523
-18,107
-22,980
-30,626
+25,488
+46,426
+61,359
+38,242
+13,396
-3,213
+13,216
-4,605
-5,418
-1,953
-4,678
-8,050
-252
-2,930
+1,135
-3,801
-780
-7,610
-4,361
+6,081
+176
+11,329
+4,020
+1,061
+543
Increase from previous year
Reading this
chart:
Decrease from previous year
AGE
GROUP
CHANGE FROM
PREVIOUS YEAR
CHANGE
2016-17
CHANGE
2010-17
2011
12
13
14
15
16
17
0-4
5-9
10-14
15-19
20-24
25-29
30-34
35-39
40-44
45-49
50-54
55-59
60-64
65-69
70-74
75-79
80-84
85+
-18,247
-16,507
-23,082
-46,994
-27,999
+731
+16,962
+8,523
-18,107
-22,980
-30,626
+25,488
+46,426
+61,359
+38,242
+13,396
-3,213
+13,216
-4,605
-5,418
-1,953
-4,678
-8,050
-252
-2,930
+1,135
-3,801
-780
-7,610
-4,361
+6,081
+176
+11,329
+4,020
+1,061
+543
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
(Kyle Bentle / Chicago Tribune)
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Marzena Maka, 25, and Nick Gitchell, 24, friends who work downtown and live in Chicago, have seen pals move to other parts of the country such as Colorado and Texas, seeking a lower cost of living and better weather and job opportunities.
Both have differing opinions on their futures in Chicago. Maka, a Chicago native who lives in the Southwest Side’s Garfield Ridge, wants to stay in Chicago and would even like to move closer to the Loop one day.
“I consider this home. There’s always something to do in Chicago. My friends are out here,” Maka said. “I would love to live in the city, but the price is kind of what keeps me from here. But I don’t see myself moving anytime soon.”
But Gitchell, who lives in Lakeview and grew up in the suburbs, said he would like to eventually get out.
“I’d like to move because of the cost of living,” Gitchell said. “Still going to be a few years out, though.”
Experts say it’s too soon to tell if millennials like Maka and Gitchell will stay in cities for the long haul, though there’s evidence that they could follow Generation X and remain city dwellers for longer, said Barbara Risman, a sociology professor, at the University of Illinois at Chicago. For the past decade, those in their 20s and 30s have decided to stay put as they age in cities like Chicago, she said.
“This is a serious moment of social change for cities,” Risman said.
2017 Cook County population
By age group
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Scale in thousands,
bars in 5-year increments
25-34 years: 849,256
500
400
300
200
100
0-9
10-19
20-29
30-39
40-49
50-59
60-69
70-79
80+
Scale in thousands, bars in 5-year increments
25-34 years: 849,256
500
400
300
200
100
0-9
10-19
20-29
30-39
40-49
50-59
60-69
70-79
80+
Scale in thousands, bars in 5-year increments
25-34 years: 849,256
500
400
300
200
100
0-9
10-19
20-29
30-39
40-49
50-59
60-69
70-79
80+
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
(Kyle Bentle / Chicago Tribune)
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Smith, the UIC professor, said as millennials think about buying a home or starting a family, it’s unlikely all will be able to call Chicago home.
She and others at Voorhees Center for Neighborhood and Community Improvement found that over the decades the middle class in Chicago has been pushed out as the city increasingly comprises residents on opposite ends of the income scale.
“As they’re aging, what is going to assure that they stay in the city?” Smith said. “I think that’s the question people are asking. Can they afford to stay in the city?”
The Chicago metropolitan area — which includes suburban counties — has seen job growth in industries that include construction, finance and transportation, which could be luring millennials to the area, said Gus Faucher, the chief economist for PNC. Faucher said he thinks millennials will eventually migrate to the suburbs when they are older, but losing that segment of the population too soon could have serious consequences.
“If the population is not growing, that could lead to economic stagnation,” Faucher said.
Job growth in the Chicago area has lagged behind other parts of the country, and that along with a high cost of living and crime could all entice millennials to move elsewhere, Faucher said.
In some cases, the beneficiaries could be other Cook County communities that have access to urban amenities — at a lower price.
In recent years, Berwyn, a suburb west of Chicago in Cook County, has campaigned to lure millennials tired of hectic city life who want to settle down. At a Loop CTA station, an advertisement declares Berwyn, known for its blocks and blocks of bungalows, is “nothing like a suburb” and is a “handcrafted community.”
“We are really looking to get first-time homebuyers to check us out,” said Elaina Hampson, part of the Berwyn Development Corp. “We are close to the city, we have the city feel but the suburb environment.”
Shawn Groll, 30, moved earlier this year from DuPage County to his native Berwyn with his wife, who is expecting their first child. The couple opened a location of their gym, Strive 4 Fitness, near Berwyn. Groll said his family has no regrets about their move, prompted by what he calls Berwyn’s sense of community.
“I just believe it’s meant to be,” Groll said. “Like, that’s where our destiny was to be back over there.”
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