There are many reasons why businesses thrive in Illinois: we have a large, diverse, productive and educated labor force; the cost of living is often cheaper than states on the coasts; and there’s easy access to robust transportation.

And of course, we’re home to arguably the best people in the country.

As Americans deal with 40-year-high inflation and a stock market that has seen multiple down weeks, one expert says there’s a direct affect on Illinois’ pension systems.

The U.S. stock market has seen downward trajectory over the last several months. For ten of the past eleven weeks, the Dow has been down. The S&P and Nasdaq had their ninth down week out of the past 10.

Ngozi Ezike, the state’s former top doctor and the voice of calm during daily pandemic news conferences, is under investigation by the state for possible ethics violations.

Our Brad Edwards explains what it’s all about.

Inflation remained painfully high in May, with consumer prices hitting a new four-decade high that is causing financial strain for Illinoisans.

The Labor Department reports that the consumer price index, which is a measure of the price for everyday goods like gasoline, food and rent, rose 8.6% in May from a year ago.

Stacker compiled a list of cities with the most expensive homes in Illinois using data from Zillow. Cities are ranked by the Zillow Home Values Index for all homes as of April 2022. The charts in this story were created automatically using Matplotlib. The most expensive city on the list has a typical home value of $1,543,695 which is 494% higher than the state average of $259,879.

All 30 cities on the list are in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metro area.