Freeport’s Decade of Decline:

How a City Lost Its Way—and What It Will Take to Recover

FREEPORT, IL – October 21, 2025

Over the past decade, Freeport has endured what can only be described as a slow civic collapse — a “decade of decline” marked by population loss, weak leadership, and public disengagement. Since 2015, the city’s population has fallen from roughly 25,000 to just over 23,000, a net loss of about 1,500 residents, or an average of 150 people leaving the city every single year.