SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WTVO) — Illinois continues to lose residents to other states as IRS data shows 105,000 residents moved out of state in 2020, taking with them $10.6 billion in income.

“The average income of the people moving to Illinois make $44,000 less than the people who are leaving Illinois, so we’re losing wealthier people and the ones that come in are not as wealthy,” Ted Dabrowski, president of the non-profit analytics firm Wirepoints, told The Center Square.

The data from the Internal Revenue Service is based on tax returns filed in 2020 and 2021.

Illinois’ population decline resulted in the loss of one congressional seat after data was released from the US Census Bureau.

In 2021, Gov. JB Pritzker blamed the out-migration on a lack of affordable colleges.

State Rep. Joe Sosnoswsi (R-Rockford) countered that “Illinois residents are looking for opportunities primarily in lower-taxed states that have more job opportunities. There are more opportunities for lower taxes, lower property taxes in some of our surrounding states.”

In an interview with CNBC, Pritzker disputed claims that big business was leaving Illinois due to violent crime.

Pritzker has maintained that the US Census vastly undercounted the state’s population. “We did a census in 2020, it turns out all the American Community Survey data was wrong. We gained population in the state of Illinois.”

According to the US Census Bureau, Illinois has lost residents for the last nine years, and data from moving companies like U-Haul tell the same story.