Investment earnings for Illinois public pensions rose from $3.8 billion in 2023 to $5.6 billion in 2024, according to data obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Annual Survey of Public Pensions.
The U.S. Census Bureau’s Annual Survey of Public Pensions covers defined-benefit pension systems sponsored by recognized government units whose membership consists of public employees compensated with public funds. Local governments in the survey are defined as counties, municipalities, townships, school districts, and special districts.
The survey provides data on revenues, expenditures, financial assets, and membership for these pension systems, and detailed questionnaires can include additional measures such as liabilities.
Not all respondents provide complete information for every item; response rates vary by data element, which can affect the availability of certain figures in the published tables.
As of 2025, nine states do not levy a broad-based personal income tax—Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming—with certain nuances for New Hampshire and Washington regarding investment or capital gains tax.
Illinois reported data from 41 pension systems, including nine state-level pension funds and 32 local-level systems. The total number of pension system members was 1,717,673 (1,393,401 at the state level and 324,272 at the local level).
Information in this article was obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Annual Survey of Public Pensions. The source data can be found here.
