Illinois finished 47th in a study by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) that examined the 50 states’ economic outlooks based on 15 policy measures.
The economic outlook ranking for Illinois examined such variables as top marginal personal income tax rate (4.95 percent) and top marginal corporate income tax rate (9.5 percent). Other measures examined include property and sales tax burdens, existence of estate or inheritance taxes, debt service as a percentage of tax revenue and the number of public employees per 10,000 people.
Historically, the state has been ranked in the bottom 10 in the annual ranking for the past seven years.
The study titled “Rich States, Poor States” also ranked states based on their economic performances from 2009 to 2019. In that assessment, Illinois ranked 42nd.
The state’s cumulative gross domestic product from 2009 to 2019, its overall loss of population to other states between 2009 and 2019 and nonagricultural job growth from 2009 to 2019 determined how it fared in the economic performance ranking.
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State Rankings on Economic Outlook and Performance
| State | 2021 Economic Performance Ranking | 2021 Economic Outlook Ranking | Top Marginal Personal Income Tax Rate | Top Marginal Corporate Tax Rate |
| Utah | 4 | 1 | 4.95% | 4.95% |
| Florida | 5 | 2 | 0% | 4.5% |
| Oklahoma | 22 | 3 | 5% | 6% |
| Wyoming | 44 | 4 | 0% | 0% |
| North Carolina | 14 | 5 | 5.25% | 2.5% |
| Indiana | 21 | 6 | 5.25% | 5.25% |
| Nevada | 11 | 7 | 0% | 0.65% |
| North Dakota | 12 | 8 | 2.9% | 4.31% |
| Texas | 1 | 9 | 0% | 2.66% |
| South Dakota | 17 | 10 | 0% | 0% |
| Idaho | 8 | 11 | 6.93% | 6.93% |
| Tennessee | 13 | 12 | 0% | 6.5% |
| Arizona | 7 | 13 | 8% | 4.9% |
| Georgia | 10 | 14 | 5.75% | 6.39% |
| Wisconsin | 34 | 15 | 7.65% | 7.9% |
| Michigan | 30 | 16 | 6.65% | 8% |
| Virginia | 31 | 17 | 5.75% | 7.64% |
| Alaska | 48 | 18 | 0% | 9.4% |
| New Hampshire | 25 | 19 | 0% | 7.7% |
| Colorado | 2 | 20 | 4.55% | 4.55% |
| Missouri | 41 | 21 | 6.4% | 4.58% |
| Louisiana | 49 | 22 | 3.78% | 6.32% |
| Arkansas | 26 | 23 | 5.9% | 6.2% |
| South Carolina | 6 | 24 | 7% | 5% |
| Alabama | 28 | 25 | 4.15% | 6.05% |
| Kansas | 39 | 26 | 5.7% | 7% |
| Mississippi | 47 | 27 | 5% | 5% |
| Ohio | 32 | 28 | 7.3% | 3.69% |
| Kentucky | 29 | 29 | 7.2% | 7.2% |
| Massachusetts | 19 | 30 | 5% | 8% |
| Delaware | 20 | 31 | 7.85% | 11.77% |
| West Virginia | 45 | 32 | 6.5% | 6.5% |
| Iowa | 33 | 33 | 5.37% | 9.68% |
| Montana | 15 | 34 | 6.9% | 6.75% |
| Nebraska | 24 | 35 | 6.84% | 7.81% |
| Pennsylvania | 40 | 36 | 6.94% | 16.84% |
| Washington | 3 | 37 | 0% | 6.85% |
| New Mexico | 43 | 38 | 5.9% | 5.9% |
| Connecticut | 50 | 39 | 6.99% | 7.5% |
| Maryland | 35 | 40 | 8.95% | 8.25% |
| Rhode Island | 37 | 41 | 5.99% | 7% |
| Hawaii | 27 | 42 | 11% | 6.4% |
| Maine | 36 | 43 | 7.15% | 8.93% |
| Oregon | 9 | 44 | 14.68% | 15.8% |
| California | 16 | 45 | 13.3% | 8.84% |
| Minnesota | 18 | 46 | 9.85% | 9.8% |
| Illinois | 42 | 47 | 4.95% | 9.5% |
| New Jersey | 46 | 48 | 11.75% | 11.5% |
| Vermont | 38 | 49 | 8.75% | 8.5% |
| New York | 23 | 50 | 12.7% | 17.3% |
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