Tax Facts: An Illinois Chartbook – The Economy of Illinois
by Maurice Scholten
This issue of Tax Facts updates the Economic Overview chapter of TFI’s publication, Tax Facts: An Illinois Chartbook. As data used to compare Illinois to other states becomes available, we will continue to publish updated chapters. (For example, the February 2020 Tax Facts was an update to Chapter 2, a comparative overview of Illinois’ overall tax structure)
The Chartbook itself and this updated chapter further TFI’s goal of providing policymakers and the public with accurate and unbiased information, in an era when studies presenting data in ways that support a particular position are all too common. For example, in the interest of accuracy, the Chartbook: (1) combines state and local taxes; (2) uses gross state product to compare economic activity; and (3) presents data in bar charts to so that outlier status is easily visualized, and not merely state rankings.
A few highlights:
- A new chart below illustrates the stark economic impact of COVID-19 on the Illinois economy, by presenting changes in employment by sector between April 2019 and April 2020.
- Illinois’ economy is the fifth-largest in the country and dwarfs our neighboring states.
- Over the last 20 years, most sectors of our economy have grown in real dollars, although that growth has not always translated into job growth.
- Illinois is one of only four states that has lost population in the last decade.
- Illinoisans pay above-average federal taxes, but the state sees below average federal spending.
- Illinois’ state and local governments carry relatively high levels of debt.
