(The Center Square) – The latest Rich States, Poor States report from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) places Illinois among the very poorest in the U.S.
The ALEC-Laffer competitiveness index released Tuesday ranks Illinois 46th out of 50 in economic outlook for 2025 and 47th out of 50 in economic performance over the past 10 years.
Report author Jonathan Williams said Illinois is becoming poorer and losing residents.
“Illinois is unfortunately a poster child for this really devastating effect of people voting with their feet away from high-tax states, and many business owners as well are part of that mix,” Williams told The Center Square.
The Rich States, Poor States report ranked Utah first for economic outlook. Florida topped the list for economic performance over the past decade.
Although Illinois ranks among the lowly in economic competitiveness, other states in the Midwest are faring quite well.
Indiana ranks third in the nation for economic outlook.
“Indiana’s been a powerhouse in the Midwest but not always so. In our first edition of Rich States Poor States, for instance, Indiana ranked middle of the pack, so Indiana’s been one of the great turnaround stories,” Williams said.
Williams cited gains by Ohio and Wisconsin as well as improvements in Michigan and Iowa.
“Missouri was moving in the right direction, Kentucky moved in the right direction, so you have a scenario now where Illinois has been an outlier in the Midwest and it’s becoming increasingly so,” Williams said.
“You have a few different pockets across the country that have really put pressure on their neighbors because of states moving in the right direction, and in the last decade to 15 years, the Midwest has been one of those regions,” Williams said.
Williams said he has been involved in all 18 Rich States, Poor States reports and Illinois has been in the bottom five for most of the last decade. He said there needs to be a change in the way the state does business.
“Generally what happens when the state tax burden and the tax rates become too high is then the state tries to compete a different way, which is by giving away special favors to politically-connected entities,” Williams said.
“In the name of being pro-business, a lot of times there will be a special handout to one industry versus another or even one company versus another. You have plenty of examples from the city of Chicago to draw from, and some individuals in federal prison as a result of that,” Williams added.
Former longtime Illinois House Speaker and Democratic Party of Illinois chairman Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, is scheduled to be sentenced in U.S. District Court on June 13 after his conviction on 10 counts of corruption. Among other things, Madigan was convicted on bribery charges related to ComEd payments to Madigan allies who did little or no work for the utility.
