Chicago is the most corrupt metropolitan area in America for the fourth consecutive year and Illinois is the second-most corrupt state, according to a new report from the University of Illinois-Chicago. Corruption can cost Illinois taxpayers up to $550 million per year.
By Dylan Sharkey | Illinois Policy
A new report found Chicago is the nation’s most corrupt metropolitan area and Illinois is the nation’s second-most corrupt state.
Chicago led the nation with 41 corruption convictions per year, or 1,824 total, from 1976 to 2021, according to an analysis by the University of Illinois-Chicago using U.S. Justice Department data on federal public corruption convictions.
Illinois was second of the states for per-capita convictions, with 1.75 for every 10,000 residents. Louisiana was on top with 2.85 per 10,000.
Total Illinois convictions hit 2,224 from 1976 to 2021, or an average of nearly 50 per year. About 4 in 5 of those were out of the Chicago area.
From 2000 to 2018, corruption cost Illinois $550 million per year in lost economic activity and investment. Political science professor Marco Rosaire Rossi noted Illinois corruption was down slightly in 2021 compared to other years, but far from where the state should be.
“However, just because corruption is becoming less frequent does not mean it is still not shamefully prevalent, nor that its impact on the state is less pernicious in terms of tax dollars wasted and lost in public trust,” he wrote.
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