Low-tax states attract the majority of movers, while high-tax states push them away. Illinois takes nearly 13% of all money made in the state as taxes, and lost 141,656 residents in 2022.
New Census Bureau data shows people moving out of Illinois continues to drive the state’s population decline. So many moved away in the year before July 2022, it was almost like Rockford disappearing.
Politicians use a loophole to bypass the Illinois Constitution’s requirement that bills be read on three separate days before they are passed. Instead, they often gut minor bills and put significant legislation in the bills within a day of the vote.
Illinois is still missing 77,000 jobs from its restaurants, bars, hotels and other leisure industries since COVID-19 shutdowns. That Illinois jobs sector has recovered only 72% of what it lost in the pandemic – one of the nation’s worst recoveries.
One-third of Illinois’ missing jobs are from the leisure and hospitality industry, but that sector’s COVID-19 pandemic recovery lags virtually every other state in the U.S.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Illinois’ economic recovery in 2021 lagged other states. A lack of in-person schooling, fewer economic opportunities and high taxes only exacerbated the ongoing population loss.
The nation recovered 85% of the jobs lost to the COVID-19 downturn, but only one metro area in Illinois beat the U.S. average. The Chicago area only recovered 64% of its jobs. Bloomington was one of just 11 U.S. areas to lose jobs last year.