A Number One Illinoisians Would Prefer Not To Have

A splendid analysis from the Illinois Policy Institute‘s Patrick Anderson:

Illinois families will pay the highest combined state and local tax burden in the nation this year on the median U.S. income. That’s $13,099, which will consume more than 16.5% of their money.

Illinois will impose the nation’s highest state and local taxes on residents in 2025, costing each household $13,099 – or more than 16.5% of their annual income – a new WalletHub report found.

Illinois households earning the median U.S. income of $79,004 will face the highest taxes in the nation. Those taxes will be $4,472 higher than the national average, or nearly 52% more.

Illinois is surrounded by states with lower tax rates, a driving factor behind the continued loss of Illinoisans that has only recently been offset by involuntary and other relocation by international migrants.

A move to Iowa, the neighboring state with the next-highest combined state and local tax rate, would save an Illinois family $2,715 on that $79,004 U.S. median household income. A move to Missouri, which boasts the lowest combined tax rate among Illinois’ neighbors, would save the family $5,315.

Over 50% of Illinois voters polled said they would move out of state if given the chance, citing high taxes as the main reason.

Illinois lost population for nine consecutive years before revised Census Bureau estimates for 2023 showed the state population grew because of a massive spike in international migration that continued into 2024.

That bump was not all voluntary and might be temporary as international newcomers face the same tax and economic problems long-term residents have decided to face no longer. Illinois has lost 420,678 residents to domestic outmigration since 2020, according to Census estimates.

With nearly 3-in-5 Illinoisans believing the value of public services they receive are not worth the property taxes they pay – which are No. 2 in the nation and account for nearly half of their tax burden – lawmakers should be pursuing structural reforms that will keep families in Illinois.