IL state and its government, state finances

Note: Many thanks to IL Policy Institute and Wirepoints for excellence in reporting on IL issues.   Great graphs!

Regarding IL Payroll costs, there are 132,000+ public employees and retirees with incomes of $100,000 or more, with annual cost of $17B.

​IL Employee Pay and Benefits

Factoids about Illinois:

​*250,000 jobs lost during pandemic, (still missing 80,700 jobs) no recovery of those jobs in sight.  Right-to-work (RTW) states have added 1.3 million jobs since 2020, while non-RTW states such as IL lost 1.1 million jobs, according to American Legislative Exchange Council


*IL economy is $31 billion smaller due to pandemic and eight years of population losses


*IL has lost employers over the past decade, reducing career opportunities for workforce.  IL has 37% fewer job postings today compared to all states


*Per Census Bureau, IL population shrank by 104,000 between 2021 and 2022, the third-worst decline in the nation behind only New York and California.

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*IL has $533 billion+ in unfunded liability for pensions and benefits, ranks number one in US for state debt versus size of state.   IL spends 26% of state budget for pensions, compared to national average of 11%.  IL pensions are funded at 38%, ranking # 48 out of 50 states.  IL is one of five states under 50% funding, versus the ideal fund rate of 85%.


*IL home appreciation in 2021 was up 11.4%, far below the national average of 18.4%.  Some homeowners are adversely affected by IL economy and high taxes


*IL spends an average of $17,293 per student, versus the national average of $13,187.    The percentage of students achieving math proficiency in Illinois is 32%. The percentage of students achieving reading proficiency is 38%.  For a report on Chicago Schools, click here​