Atlas Van Lines: Illinois exodus continues, but slows in 2025
More people still moved out of Illinois than moved in during 2025, but the gap was smaller than it’s been for the past 16 years, according to Atlas Van Lines.
Illinois’ outbound migration crisis slowed after 16 years of losses, with new data from Atlas Van Lines showing a smaller gap between moves in and moves out of the state in 2025 than in any year since 2008.
While the Atlas report was an improvement, other moving companies reported bleaker results.
The new Atlas report found 54% of the company’s clients moved out of Illinois during 2025 while 46% moved into Illinois. The company considered that gap to be statistically even, but said a big factor behind the ratio could be “overall mobility remains low today, primarily due to affordability constraints such as the high cost of home ownership and limited inventory.”
Previous Atlas studies found Illinois lost residents every year between 2009 and 2024, with the trend peaking at 63% of movers leaving in 2023. The company has tracked client relocations every year dating back to at least 1993.
Other moving companies also produce similar surveys that show Illinois as a place to leave. Allied Van Lines shows a 58% outbound rate for 2025, ranking Illinois No. 1 for losing people. United Van Lines data is reported in January, and it last reported 60% of its moves in 2024 were out of Illinois, ranking No. 2 in the nation.
Atlas reported the U.S. states with the highest rates of individuals moving in were Arkansas followed by Idaho. Louisiana saw the highest rate of people leaving, followed by West Virginia.
Illinoisans face continuing challenges: home values have risen 46% since 2018; the property tax burden averages 1.83% of a home’s value and is now the highest in the nation.
Taxes have long pushed families and employers to consider lower-cost Midwestern neighbors. A WalletHub analysis found a typical Illinois family could save over $5,000 a year simply by moving to Missouri.
U.S. Census data shows Illinois has shed around 420,000 residents since 2020. Polling has shown nearly half of voters would leave the state if given the chance.
A poll in November showed Illinoisans and Chicagoans both saw high taxes as the No. 1 issue. Surveys of those who have left the state – where taxes are not a response option – showed the major reasons were better housing and employment opportunities, both of which have been made worse by poor public policy in Illinois.
While Atlas noted in an email to Crain’s Chicago Business that Illinois’ attractive job market could be helping to drive more people to the state, that trend may not hold when the economy dips, as seen during the pandemic.
Illinois leaders could take substantive steps today to reduce outmigration and keep the people moving to Illinois by addressing the reasons residents are leaving – higher taxes, burdensome regulations hurting employment and a lack of available housing.
People need reasons to move to Illinois, and politicians too often are providing reasons to move away.