By Patrick Baron

BLOOMINGTON – The Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council has released the 2018 Demographic Profile, which indicates retail sales, household income, and population in the Twin Cities are on the rise.

Compared to 2010, McLean County overall has seen the population grow to approximately 172,290 from 169,572. EDC spokesperson Zach Dietmeier said the rise in residents is a good contrast compared to the number of people who have left the state in recent years.

“We’re a growing population and that’s a good sign for Illinois and specifically McLean County, as we consider some of the net migration issues that the state has had over the past few years,” explained Dietemeier.

Retail sales have also in an increase in Bloomington-Normal and the county as a whole. 2017 brought in $2,348,607,573 in retail sales compared to $2,302,500,836 in 2013. Dietmeier explained despite the discussion of retail stores failing across the country, local businesses continue to perform well in the Twin Cities.

“Although we’ve seen a lot of struggles locally in Bloomington-Normal from big-box retailers, our mom and pop retailers are still doing well and there’s been more of a focus for our really small micro-retailers,” said Dietmeier.

Dietmeier said an increased focus on customer service is one of the reasons retail sales have steady risen in the past five years.

The median household income in McLean County for 2017 was $63,420, which is higher than a number of neighboring counties, as well as Cook County and Peoria County. Dietmeier said Bloomington-Normal has a higher educated workforce, which contributes to higher wages and a steady economy.

Residents have also been using public transportation services more over the past eight years. In 2017, Connect Transit saw 2,217,641 riders use its services, compared to the 1,261,374 riders in 2010. Dietmeier said since Connect Transit changed its routes, residents have had better access to the public transportation system.

“More convenient routes, more effective for their ridership leads to higher ridership numbers,” Dietmeier said. “We’ll continue to promote those transportation options within the community.”

While these numbers bode well for Bloomington-Normal and McLean County as a whole, Dietmeier said residents shouldn’t feel like the peak has been reached in the county. He wants the community to continue to strive to improve those numbers in the coming years.

“It’s the case for us not to be comfortable in what we see and to continue to push our community forward to find new outlets for diversifying our job industries and continuing to stay on top of those peaks as we’ve seen,” Dietmeier explained.

You can examine the 2018 Demographic Profile at www.bnbiz.org.

Patrick Baron can be reached at [email protected].