Most of those leaving earned $100,000 or more.
By Bryce Hill | Illinois Policy Institute
When Illinoisans move away, they take their money with them: $9.9 billion in 2022, according to new data from the Internal Revenue Service.
Tax returns for 2021 and 2022 show Illinois lost 86,693 individuals and $9.9 billion because of outmigration. Most of them were high-income Illinoisans.
While Illinoisans of all income levels left the state, the heaviest losses were among those earning more than $100,000 annually. Those tax filers represented 56.4% of the state’s net migration losses. The loss of these taxpayers is even greater when it comes to their economic impact: filers making more than $100,000 annually took 88.4% – nearly $8.8 billion – of Illinois’ net income losses with them.
The massive decline in economic potential because of outmigration is not simply a result of losing more residents than the state attracts. Comparing the differences in migrants who move into the state to those who move out of the state reveals massive disparities as well.
The average tax return of those moving into Illinois earned $86,086 in adjusted gross income in 2022, while the average tax return of those who left the state earned $124,008. In other words, those who left the state earned $37,922 more than those who moved in, further exacerbating the state’s economic losses because of outmigration.
Perhaps the most concerning stat was Illinois lost residents in every age and every income bracket. There was not a single demographic reported by the IRS from which Illinois gained residents. The state is failing Illinoisans across the board.
The bulk of those who left the state are Illinoisans in their prime working ages. Tax filers between the ages of 26 and 54, along with their dependents, represent 64% of those who left the state in 2022, totaling 55,714 individuals. Illinois is also losing many residents as they approach and reach retirement age: 55- to 64-year-olds represent 18%, or 15,522, of those who left. Those age 65 and above were responsible for 13% of the decline, tallying 11,264 in lost residents. Those under 26 represented 5% of those leaving the state, or 4,193 individuals.
Where are Illinoisans moving? IRS data shows where Illinoisans who left the state are going – and, on rare occasion, where Illinois is attracting residents from.
Read more here.
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