Everyone is leaving Illinois. Here's why.

The US is going through a major shift in demographics right now. Look around. Odds are you have many new neighbors. Or perhaps it’s YOU that’s new to the hood. There’s two main reasons we’re moving around a lot right now - a tense political climate and a cost of living spike. More of us don’t want to live in a state that’s being run in ways we disagree with. And as you know, it’s getting really expensive in many parts of the country.

Some states lost a lot of people in the last decade, and it’s a trend that is showing no signs of letting up. Places like West Virginia, New York and California are losing a lot of residents to outbound migration.

But there’s no state losing more people right now than Illinois. I’m going to show you an example of what’s happening in Illinois right now. We’re going to visit a small shrinking town in this state to see how things look and provide some context into why this state is losing so many people. This isn’t the future of Illinois. It’s happening right now.

For the drive, I headed down to the small town of Ridge Farm, population 753. It was a sunny day on the day after Thanksgiving in 2021. We’ll use RIdge Farm as an example to illustrate the trend happening in small town America.

Ridge Farm’s population used to be several thousand people. But like tons of other tiny towns in this state, folks are leaving in big numbers. There’s two main reasons people are leaving this state - high taxes and a lack of jobs. It’s pretty easy to see why there aren’t any jobs down here - there’s really nothing around anymore these days and a commute to a decent paying job is out of the question for most people.

But the taxes are what’s really driving people away. Illinois has the highest tax burden in the nation, where 15% of people’s incomes are being eaten away by state taxes alone. The property taxes here are the highest in the nation at 2.16%, which is double the national average. For a lot of people in a town like this, it could be 3 to 400 a month in property taxes alone. The average Illinois resident pays close to $5,000 a year in property taxes. Plus, gas taxes are the highest in the nation, too.

People down here just can’t afford it nor can they justify it. They’re hard working, good people, and they understand most of their taxes go to support Chicago. Do you think these people care about Chicago? Do you think Chicago people care about THEM?

The people up in the snobby Chicago burbs don’t have it any easier. They’re leaving too. If you’re a high earner in the Chicago metro area, you’re paying about half your salary in taxes when you combine Illinois state taxes with federal taxes.

Rich Chicago people are being taxed to death and folks in rural places like where we are now can’t support themselves like they used to. Small-time farming is a thing of the past. This isn’t the era of scrapping together a living raising crops. Times have changed. That was a long time ago.

So where are these people going? Many are dying off and aren’t being replaced. Once a kid is old enough they take off as soon as they can - there’s nothing for them here. What kid is gonna want to grow up here and work at the hardware store or at the 5 and dime? They're on TikTok all damn day seeing other people having fun in big cities.

A lot of families sick of the cost of living and lack of opportunity are being driven into nearby states. In Wisconsin, property taxes are 1.8%. In Iowa they are 1.5%. In nearby Missouri and Indiana, property taxes are less than a percent.

There was a time when a small town in illinois was thriving and a great place to be. Today it's last one out turn out the lights. Illinois has 300 cities with tiny populations just like the one we’re in right now. 300. And all of them are seeing major declines in population just like little Ridge Farm.

One day this place won’t be here at all. It’ll be completely gone.

#illinois #moving

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