Politics & Government
Census: Bolingbrook Population Grows 30 Percent to 73,366
The U.S. Census released official numbers for Illinois today and Bolingbrook's figures have Mayor Roger Claar pleased with the results.
Bolingbrook Mayor Roger Claar said he is very happy with the information in Tuesday’s release of U.S. Census figures, which lists the village as having a population of just more than 73,000.
According to the data, Bolingbrook has a population of 73,366—a 30 percent increase since the 2000 Census, which put the village at a population of 56,321.
Claar said village officials had been using a conservative population estimate of 71,500 for years, but he was wary of that figure considering the economic downturn that has riddled the community and nation in recent years.
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“I thought we would be lucky to hold our own, or even drop a few hundred,” he said. “For the projections to come in at 73,366 is great news. I’m very happy with the results not because we grew that much—I’ve never been one to want to be the biggest city—but because it shows that we have remained healthy in this down-turning economy.”
Bolingbrook, according to the Census data, is the 17th largest incorporated place in Illinois. Claar said the population eventually could be as high as 85,000 once the village hits its peak capacity.
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That estimate would put Bolingbrook around the 10th largest community in the state, provided that all other Illinois municipalities remained at their current size.
The U.S. Census is conducted every ten years and represents a snapshot of all the people living in the country. The data goes as deep as counting how many people live in each neighborhood, by age, race, income and other traits.
Each year, according to a Census fact sheet, the federal government doles out more than $400 billion to states and communities based, in part, on census data.
Claar said Bolingbrook’s spike in population will undoubtedly mean more funding.
Of Bolingbrook’s population, 39,819 residents (54.3 percent) are white, 14,999 (20.4 percent) black and 17,957 (24.5 percent) of Hispanic origin.
More than 50,000 Bolingbrook residents are 18-years-old or older.
Four percent of Bolingbrook’s housing market is vacant.
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