Illinois Has Lost More People Than Any Other Midwestern State

If that statement isn't bad enough, Illinois Policy reports that we've also lost three times as many residents in the last decade than any other state in the union.

We've been hearing for years about Illinois' problem with something called "outbound migration." Outbound migration is exactly what you think it is. People throwing up their hands and saying "Enough!" before packing up a truck and going someplace where they hope the grass is greener.

In some cases, of course, the reason for leaving Illinois is because of retirement, transfer, wanting to be closer to family, etc., but the numbers show that in many cases people are leaving because of the way our state has been (and is still being) run.

The Illinois Policy report says that while the Midwest's population actually grew by a little over a million people between 2010 and 2020, Illinois didn't. Our population went down by over 250,000 people.

So, why are people choosing to leave the Land of Lincoln in their rearview mirror?

Illinois Policy:

Major reasons Illinoisans are choosing to leave the state are for better housing and employment opportunities, both of which have been hurt by poor public policy choices that have driven up property, income and other taxes in Illinois. Nearly half of Illinoisans have thought about moving away, and they said taxes was their No. 1 reason.

Wait, didn't Governor Pritzker's "Fair Tax" go down to defeat on Election Day? Yes, it did. However, the defeat of that tax proposal seems to have Governor Pritzker looking at other ways of raising your taxes.

The Associated Press (AP) reports that during the recent lame-duck legislative session in Springfield, Governor Pritzker was pushing for what would amount to a $500 million tax hike on small businesses.

AP:

Pritzker has threatened a widespread income tax hike that would hit all taxpayers or 15% cuts in services across the board, neither of which he has pushed, although Pritzker has adopted some cuts in spending. “The recently announced budget cuts along with these new roll backs of corporate tax breaks are just the first steps in this budget process. More will be necessary,” Pritzker said in a statement.

So, if nearly half of the residents of Illinois have given serious thought to leaving the state because of our taxes, another tax hike should push us to what, 75 percent?