罗克福德人口约15万，市政厅高8层，机场就业人数达8,700人，较十年前增加数千人。其国内净外流已从2020年前每年2,000至3,000人降至2024年的仅141人，2025年可能自2007至2009年全球金融危机前以来首次转为净流入。

中西部出现逆转：2022年净流出18万人，去年转为净流入1.6万人，可能是自20世纪50年代以来首次为正。伊利诺伊州2022年净流出近15万人，去年仅4万人，降幅约73%，但财政压力仍在，包括芝加哥预算约40%用于养老金和债务。

更广泛的地区趋势并不均衡：底特律市总人口近70年来首次增长，克利夫兰外流放缓，而哥伦布由大规模净流入转为温和净流出。成本是关键变量：芝加哥租金约比菲尼克斯每月低150美元，罗克福德约20万美元可买到高质量独栋房，但制造业再度走弱与移民收缩使美国国会预算办公室将未来十年人口增长预测从1,500万下调至800万。

Rockford, a city of about 150,000 people, has an eight-storey City Hall and 8,700 airport jobs, several thousand more than a decade ago. Its domestic net outflow fell from 2,000-3,000 people a year before 2020 to just 141 in 2024, and 2025 may become the first net-inflow year since before the 2007-09 global financial crisis.

The Midwest shows a reversal: a net loss of 180,000 movers in 2022 turned into a net gain of 16,000 last year, possibly the first positive balance since the 1950s. Illinois went from nearly 150,000 net leavers in 2022 to 40,000 last year, a roughly 73% drop, though fiscal strain remains, with about 40% of Chicago’s budget tied to pensions and debt.

The broader regional picture is uneven: Detroit’s city population grew for the first time in nearly 70 years, Cleveland’s outflow eased, while Columbus shifted from large net inflows to a modest net outflow. Cost is the core driver, with Chicago rents about $150 per month below Phoenix and quality Rockford homes near $200,000, but renewed manufacturing weakness and lower immigration pushed the CBO’s 10-year U.S. population-growth forecast down from 15 million to 8 million.

Source: The Midwest’s remarkable turnaround

Subtitle: For the first time in 70 years, more Americans are coming than going

Dateline: 2月 26, 2026 08:17 上午 | ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS