Losing residents: Illinois sees worst population decline in the country this decade

More and more people are leaving Illinois.

In fact, Illinois had the sharpest population decline in the nation this decade, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

RELATED: Illinois lost 45K residents last year, 2nd largest decline in the country

The state lost about 51,000 residents last year and more than 159,000 over the past 10 years.

This is the sixth consecutive year of population decline, and only two states, California and New York, lost more people to other states over this past year.