Initial results of the 2020 United States Census show Missouri will retain all eight of its Congressional seats, while Illinois, which saw a population decline will lose one, dropping from 18 to 17.
Legally mandated by Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, the U.S. Census is conducted for the purpose of “counting the whole number of persons in each State” in order to apportion Representatives in the U.S. House of Representatives. It is also used to determine federal funding, infrastructure planning, and economic analysis, among other things.
According to U.S. Census released April 26, Missouri’s population was 6,160,281 in 2020, up from 5,988,927 in 2010 – an increase of 2.8 percent – meaning Missouri will retain its current total of eight representatives in the House, with each representing a population of approximately 770,035.
Illinois’ population count was 12,812,508 in 2020, a drop of 18,124 from 2010, meaning the state will drop to 17 Congressional seats, with each representing approximately 753,676 constituents.
Seven states lost representatives in the 2020 Census: California, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia each lost one seat.
Six states gained seats: Texas added two seats, and Colorado, Florida, Montana, North Carolina, and Oregon each added one.
Census data is available on the U.S. Census Bureau website at data.census.gov, and through the library database DataPlanet, which also includes thousands of other datasets from other government entities and NGOs.
- Share this story:
-
-
-
-
-
-
-