• Editor’s Note: This is the third of a series on population change in Kane County, based on reports by Northern Illinois University’s Center for Governmental Studies.

Overall, only 17 out of 102 counties in Illinois experienced population growth last year.

Kane County was one of them, seeing growth of 0.6 percent, or an additional 3,029 people — the largest numeric increase for an Illinois county, according to information provided by Northern Illinois University’s Center for Governmental Studies.

Among neighboring counties, only two others saw year-over-year population gains in 2014: Kendall County grew by 1.5 percent, or an additional 1,825 people, and DuPage County saw a 0.1 percent increase.

Cook and McHenry counties experienced negligible losses in population. Projections by the Illinois Department of Public Health anticipate Cook County to decline in population through 2025, while population is projected to increase in the collar counties.

Will County, which was experiencing rapid growth prior to the 2008 recession, said goodbye to more residents than it welcomed in 2014. Overall, the county’s population dropped by 2,866 residents.

As reported in previous installments of this series, Kane County was the third-fastest-growing county in the state of Illinois for the period of 2010 through 2014.

For that time period, Kane County communities also were at the top of the list of population gainers. Pingree Grove’s population jumped by nearly 28 percent to 5,878 residents, and the village of East Dundee ranked third in percentage population increases, with 11 percent growth to 3,198 residents. In total numbers of new residents, the state’s top 25 included Elgin, Aurora and Huntley, as well as Pingree Grove.

But what was the reason for the increase? Where are the new residents coming from? And how many are leaving?

 A Deeper Dive Into the Numbers

According to the chart below, put together courtesy of CGS, Kane County’s net gain was primarily from nature rather than nurture. Overall, the county saw 29,293 births during the period of 2010 to 2014 and just 12,663 deaths. This year, Kane County’s health ranking moved up to fifth among 102 counties in the state, and that report revealed that Kane County residents rank fourth in length of life.

Kane County saw a modest population increase from international migration — also good news for a county as an attractive place to live and work. Kane County gained 2,640 residents from international migration, according to the CGS.

Domestic migration, however, continues to be an issue for Kane County, as it is for other Illinois counties. Kane lost 8,075 residents overall during the 2010-14 time period. By comparison, DuPage County lost 15,609 residents to migration, Will lost 13,814 and Lake lost 22,511. Neighboring Cook County lost 152,538 residents.

In the next part of this series, we’ll talk a little more about where those folks are going.

Components of Population Change

Kane County Population Series

• Monday: Kane County 3rd in Illinois Population Growth
• Tuesday: Elgin, Aurora, Pingree Grove, Huntley Among Fastest-Growing Communities in Illinois
• Today: Where Is Kane’s Population Growth Coming From?
• Thursday: Where Are Illinois Residents Migrating?
• Friday: Illinois’ Population Decline; What Does It Mean?