Pritzker record: Illinois loses tens of thousands of residents during his tenure
Illinois’ population has shrunk under Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s leadership and is predicted to fall further.
While population growth is a basic measure of effective governance, tens of thousands of people have left Illinois under Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
The state’s outmigration challenge is expected to worsen, with Illinois projected to lose 600,000 residents by 2033, driven by a drop of 450,000 in Illinois’ prime-working-age population.
And from 2020 to 2025, Illinois’ population of residents under 20 fell by 6.8%, more than three times faster than the national average of 2%, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Net loss of 168,000
Since 2018, the state has lost a net of more than 168,000 residents, or over 1% of its population. Illinois ranks 48th in population growth rate among the 50 states.
The rest of the Midwest grew by 2.1% during the same time period.
Of the nearly 83,000 residents who left in 2024, almost all of them went to states with lower taxes. Florida alone claimed a net of over 11,000 Illinois residents that year, while a net of nearly 37,000 left for Illinois’ neighbor states.
Pritzker’s second term has seen a slight uptick in population, largely because of international migration. Without that boost, Illinois’ total would have declined in 2025.
Desire to leave Illinois
In a May poll conducted by M3 Strategies for the Illinois Policy Institute, just over 51% of respondents said they would leave Illinois if they had the opportunity. About 39% would stay — lowest since the beginning of 2025 — and about 10% were unsure.
Among the half who would leave, almost 69% cited taxes as a top one or two issue facing Illinois.
Despite a clear signal that taxes and driving out residents, Pritzker has presided over 63 tax and fee hikes to date.
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