Springfield economic development officials say they don’t know why Bloomington-Normal and Champaign-Urbana grew faster and more substantially over the past decade.
Development leaders from those similarly sized central Illinois communities said their population increases probably were linked to job growth or continued stability at employers such as State Farm Insurance, Mitsubishi, Illinois State University and the University of Illinois.
Sangamon County
Unemployment rate: 7.1 percent*
Top employers: State of Illinois, Memorial Health System, St. John’s Hospital, Springfield Public Schools, University of Illinois Springfield, Springfield Clinic, Illinois National Guard, City of Springfield, SIU School of Medicine and AT&T.
The numbers were featured in a March 6, 2011, article in The State Journal-Register.
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