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The share of Illinois small businesses still closed compared to January 2020, just prior to the onset of the pandemic, stands at 36.5%, the eighth highest percentage among the 50 states, an online data tracker managed by Harvard University found.
Among Midwestern states, Illinois had the second-highest share of firms that had closed since January 2020, behind Michigan with 39.7% of small businesses remaining closed as of March, the Opportunity Insights data tracker reported.
Within Illinois, Marion County recorded the highest level of small business closures at 57.1% during the pandemic. Some larger counties reported lower levels of closures, with Cook County reporting 28.1% and Lake County reporting 27.1%.
Nationwide, as of March 20, the number of small businesses in operation was 33.6% below what the level was in January 2020, according to the data tracker.
The data also shows that different types of small businesses were not affected in the same way. One of the largest number of closures occurred in the leisure and hospitality sector, according to the tracker’s numbers.
Data was not available for the states of Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming.
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Share of Small Business Closures as of March 20
| Rank | State | % of Small Businesses Shut Down Since January 2020 |
| 1 | Michigan | 39.7% |
| 2 | Massachusetts | 39.1% |
| 3 (tie) | Alaska | 38.9% |
| 3 (tie) | Maine | 38.9% |
| 5 | Colorado | 38.8% |
| 6 | Connecticut | 38.5% |
| 7 | New Jersey | 36.9% |
| 8 (tie) | Rhode Island | 36.5% |
| 8 (tie) | Illinois | 36.5% |
| 10 | New Mexico | 36.2% |
| 11 | California | 35.9% |
| 12 | New York | 35.4% |
| 13 | Louisiana | 33.2% |
| 14 | Texas | 32.6% |
| 15 | Georgia | 32.3% |
| 16 | Florida | 32.2% |
| 17 | Oklahoma | 31.9% |
| 18 | Virginia | 31.6% |
| 19 | Arizona | 31.3% |
| 20 | Kansas | 31.0% |
| 21 | Ohio | 30.4% |
| 22 | Mississippi | 29.7% |
| 23 (tie) | Hawaii | 29.5% |
| 23 (tie) | Iowa | 29.5% |
| 25 | Delaware | 29.4% |
| 26 | Maryland | 29.3% |
| 27 (tie) | Kentucky | 29.0% |
| 27 (tie) | Nevada | 29.0% |
| 27 (tie) | Wisconsin | 29.0% |
| 30 | Washington | 28.5% |
| 31 | Indiana | 28.4% |
| 32 | Oregon | 28.1% |
| 33 | Pennsylvania | 27.7% |
| 34 | South Carolina | 27.0% |
| 35 | Minnesota | 26.6% |
| 36 | Alabama | 25.9% |
| 37 | Missouri | 25.8% |
| 38 | West Virginia | 25.7% |
| 39 | North Carolina | 25.6% |
| 40 | Tennessee | 24.4% |
| 41 | Utah | 23.5% |
| 42 | Vermont | 23.3% |
| 43 | Arkansas | 21.9% |
| 44 | North Dakota | 19.5% |
| 45 | New Hampshire | 18.3% |
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