(The Center Square) – The exodus from Illinois continues.

The latest Census data for 2023 shows that people are moving out of Democratic strongholds such as Illinois and into Texas, Florida and Arizona.

Ted Dabrowski, president of the nonprofit think tank Wirepoints, said the data shows a majority of Illinois cities lost population.

“Ninety-three out of the 122 cities shrunk in the past year,” said Dabrowski. “That basically includes all the big places, Cicero, Berwyn, Blue Island, Elwood Park, I could go down the list, they all shrunk and that should be a big concern to everybody.”

Dabrowski said the data shows that southern states are attracting people because they are more friendly with their government policies, job creation and lower taxes.

The top five cities for population gain in the country were located in Texas, Florida and North Carolina. While Chicago lost population, the fourth largest city in the country, Houston, Texas, gained population and now trails the Windy City by only 350,000.

A study by Pew Charitable Trusts showed that Illinois had the second highest population loss from 2008 to 2023. Only West Virginia lost a higher percentage.

Dabrowski said if things don’t change, Chicago is going to suffer the same fate as San Francisco.

“San Francisco has lost 7% of its population since 2020,” said Dabrowski. “That’s a big number and if things get worse it could create real problems. Chicago only lost 3%, but that is in the wrong direction.”