(Photo By Flickr User roosac)

A trend of population decline in Central Illinois is showing few signs of slowing down.

According to WEEK-TV, the latest projections released last week by the U.S. Census Bureau cover July 2017 through July 2018. The census projects Peoria County lost 1,957 people, or 1.1 percent of the county’s total population over the year-long stretch.

Tazewell County lost 1,063 people, or 0.8 percent. Woodford County saw an estimated 236 people, or 0.6 percent, leave the county.

A breakdown of other area counties are as follows:

Fulton: -251 (-0.7 percent)

Henry -156 (-0.3 percent)

Knox -516 (-1.0 percent)

LaSalle -251 (-0.2 percent)

Logan -90 (-0.3 percent)

McDonough -368 (-1.2 percent)

McLean -17 (0 percent)

Marshall -151 (-1.3 percent)

Mason -123 (-0.9 percent)

Putnam 22 (+0.4 percent)

The Danville, IL metropolitan area in eastern Illinois, was among the five fastest shrinking in the United States. Much of the population growth reported this year was in the American south and west.

“One interesting trend we are seeing this year is that metro areas not among the most populous are ranked in the top 10 for population growth,” said Sandra Johnson, a demographer in the Census Bureau’s Population Division. “Though no new metro areas moved into the top 10 largest areas, Phoenix, AZ, Seattle, WA, Austin, TX, and Orlando, FL all experienced numeric increases in population since 2010, rivaling growth in areas with much larger populations. This trend is consistent with the overall growth we are seeing in the south and the west.”

The fastest growing county in the nation was Williams County, N.D., with growth of 5.9 percent.