New Poll Says Over 50% Of Illinoisans Would Move If Possible

Like many people when they're younger, I wanted to move to California. Sunshine, beaches, movie stars, Baywatch lifeguards--you name it, the Golden State had it, or so I thought.

To quote the late, great Jimmy Buffet, California also has riots, fires, and mudslides. Not to mention some of the highest taxes and fees of any state in the entire union, along with a big unemployment problem (like Illinois) and a stunningly high cost of living, to name just a few things that not only have kept people from moving there, but have caused Californians to want to get out of there themselves.

California now leads the entire country in "outbound migration," which is just another way of saying "leaving the state for another state." Who was number one in outbound migration before California?

Illinois. But now we're number two, followed by New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts.

Just Because Illinois Has Fallen To Number-Two In The Nation For Outbound Migration Doesn't Mean That Things Are So Great In The Land Of Lincoln That Everybody Wants To Stay Put

A new poll by IllinoisPolicy.org asked Illinois residents to list the top issues facing the state, and poll respondents listed these:

1. High taxes (54%)
2. Economy (33%)
3. State governance (25%)
4. Crime (20%)
5. Housing (19%)
6. Education (13%)
7. Immigration (11%)

IllinoisPolicy.org:

Past surveys have shown high taxes were the No. 1 reason most Illinoisans considered leaving the state. Polling from NPR Illinois and the University of Illinois found 61% of Illinoisans thought about moving out of state in 2019, and the No. 1 reason was taxes.

Similar surveys conducted by the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute in 2016 and Echelon Insights in 2023 also found high taxes were the single biggest reason Illinoisans wanted to leave.

According To The Poll, Almost Half Of Illinois Residents Would Leave--If They Had An Opportunity Elsewhere

The Illinois Policy poll's numbers show that 49.5% of Illinois residents would head for the border if given the chance, while 40.0% would continue living here in Illinois. For whatever reason, 10.5% said that they remain "unsure."

Illinois managed to lose a resident to another state every 9 minutes and 21 seconds between July 2023 and June 2024. Since 2020, the state has lost a total of 420,678 residents to domestic outmigration, according to Census estimates.