Jumping on the Moving Truck
An interactive migration map from Forbes helps us understand Illinois's population migration.
Jon Bruner of Forbes recently created an interactive map that shows county-to-county migration in 2008. Based on IRS taxpayer filing data, it shows where Americans are coming and going. Another interesting feature of the map shows how wealth is flowing throughout the country.
Take a look at Iroquois County, Illinois, and Newton County, Indiana. Both are on the Illinois-Indiana border. In 2008, 31 people left Newton County to come to Iroquois County, and each had average income of $11,500. Heading in the other direction, 54 people moved from Iroquois County to Newtown County, and each had average income of
$12,900.
Where are people in your county coming from, and where are they going?
According to the American Legislative Exchange Council, Illinois has a very high rate of net out migration to other states—we’re 48th in absolute domestic migration, to be exact. Illinois’s net migration from 1999 to 2008 was a loss of 637,979 people.
In an accompanying article to the interactive map, Jon Bruner notes that “America’s wealthy like warm weather and low taxes.” Relying on analysis from Robert Shrum of the Tax Foundation, Bruner brings attention to the fact that “six of the top 10 counties the rich are fleeing are located” in states “that have targeted wealthy households with extra-high tax brackets.” The two states that had the highest rates of in migration were Texas and Florida, both of which have a top marginal income tax rate of 0 percent.
While there is not much Illinois can do about the weather, the state’s economic and tax environment is not encouraging to prospective newcomers. Illinois has a relatively low top marginal tax rate (something worth protecting), but the state has other ways to squeeze revenue from the people. According to the Tax Foundation, Illinois had the 7th highest property taxes paid and the 6th highest combined state and local sales tax rate. These factors contribute to Illinois having the 14th highest combined tax burden in the nation.
While our relatively hostile tax environment isn’t the sole cause of Illinois’s high out-migration rate, it surely isn’t helping.