Prairie State Wire

Illinois came in 37th among the 50 states in a new study by the CATO Institute showing which states provide the most economic and personal freedoms to their residents.

The Prairie State came in 47th for fiscal freedoms, 20th for personal freedoms and second for its regulatory environment. The “Freedom in the 50 States” report measured state freedoms in 230 policy categories.

In the personal freedom section of the ranking, states that allow gambling, don’t restrict gun ownership, provide for public school choice, have low cigarette taxes and have minimal marijuana restrictions scored higher than other states. 

In the fiscal policy rank, states with lower rates of state and local taxation and lower government debt scored higher. In terms of regulatory policies, those states that have the widest land-use freedoms, health insurance freedom and fewer occupational licensing rules fared better than other states. 

Most of the laws and regulations evaluated in the study are those that were in effect on Jan.1, 2020. Tax data that was evaluated comes from either fiscal year 2020 or FY 2019.

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2021 CATO Institute Ranking of State Freedoms

State	Overall Rank	Fiscal Rank	Personal Rank	Regulatory Rank	Change Since 2016
New Hampshire	1	3	2	24	0
Florida	2	1	12	21	0
Nevada	3	10	1	23	0
Tennessee	4	2	39	16	1
South Dakota	5	4	18	6	-1
Indiana	6	9	11	10	0
Michigan	7	13	8	17	4
Georgia	8	6	34	7	2
Arizona	9	18	6	19	0
Idaho	10	11	42	4	-2
Missouri	11	7	15	30	2
Colorado	12	16	7	28	-5
Virginia	13	15	38	18	-1
Pennsylvania	14	5	27	37	9
North Dakota	15	31	13	12	1
North Carolina	16	21	16	26	3
Wisconsin	17	30	21	9	3
Montana	18	14	17	36	-3
Oklahoma	19	29	23	20	8
Utah	20	35	28	8	-3
Texas	21	12	49	22	3
Alabama	22	19	37	25	0
Arkansas	23	22	44	14	5
Alaska	24	34	10	27	-10
Kentucky	25	23	45	11	6
Wyoming	26	36	41	5	10
Kansas	27	38	31	1	-9
South Carolina	28	33	35	13	-2
Iowa	29	43	19	3	4
Massachusetts	30	8	25	42	-9
Ohio	31	20	40	32	-2
Louisiana	32	26	29	31	-7
Nebraska	33	47	20	2	-3
Maine	34	37	3	39	-2
West Virginia	35	40	14	29	3
Connecticut	36	27	33	43	-2
Illinois	37	47	20	2	-3
Minnesota	38	39	22	34	-1
Washington	39	32	24	41	-5
Mississippi	40	45	36	15	3
Rhode Island	41	27	33	43	-2
New Mexico	42	48	5	35	0
Vermont	43	46	4	44	2
Delaware	44	44	47	33	-3
Maryland	45	24	32	47	1
Oregon	46	42	9	46	-6
New Jersey	47	28	48	49	0
California	48	41	26	50	0
Hawaii	49	50	46	45	0
New York	50	49	50	48	0

Source: Freedom in the 50 States 2021 / Cato Institute