The bipartisan State of the Nation Project has collected extensive data on Illinois and compared it with other states. Below we provide a brief progress report that shows the state rank and trend for each measure. Illinois ranks higher, on average, on the topics of Mental Health (4), Trust (9), and Economy (11), but lower on Work and Labor Force (40), Environment (44), and Civil Liberties (47). Illinois also outperforms its Midwest neighbors in 2 of the 14 topics and is improving over time on 8 of the 31 measures.
Illinois Summary Table
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Children & FamiliesState
TrendState
Rank-
Child Mortality24
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Low Birthweight33
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Youth Depression39
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Children Living With Single Parent28
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Citizenship & DemocracyState
TrendState
Rank-
Voter Participation29
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Civil LibertiesState
TrendState
Rank-
Freedom of the Press47
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EconomyState
TrendState
Rank-
Economic Output5
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Productivity28
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EducationState
TrendState
Rank-
Academic Test Scores20
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Average Years of Education13
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Young Adults Employed or in School20
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EnvironmentState
TrendState
Rank-
Net Greenhouse Gas Emissions46
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Air Quality37
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InequalityState
TrendState
Rank-
Income Inequality42
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Poverty26
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Life SatisfactionState
TrendState
Rank-
Satisfaction with Current Life13
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Social Isolation41
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Mental HealthState
TrendState
Rank-
Depression8
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Fatal Overdoses16
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Suicide Rate9
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Physical HealthState
TrendState
Rank-
Life Expectancy21
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Social CapitalState
TrendState
Rank-
Volunteerism28
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Trust in Other People13
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TrustState
TrendState
Rank-
Trust in the Federal Government19
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Trust in Science15
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ViolenceState
TrendState
Rank-
Murder Rate35
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Shootings19
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Work & Labor ForceState
TrendState
Rank-
Employment-to-Population Ratio (EPOP)28
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Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR)21
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Long-Term Unemployment Rate45
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Hourly Earnings Growth40
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How to Read This Report:
We report each measure three different ways: State Rank, State Trend, State vs. US Trend. Each result is color coded as either red (negative/worsening), yellow (neutral/stable), or green (positive/improving), as indicated below. If the simple trends were erratic, had too few data points, or had no data points, we do not color code and label the trend as “mixed,” "unclear," or "NA," respectively.
State Rank
(Where are we now?)
State Trend
(Where are we going?)
State vs. US Trend
(How do we compare?)
Top third of states
(i.e., ranks 1-17)
Improving
Trendline is improving by >5% and most points are improving relative to the first data point.
Improving
Trendline is improving relative to the national trend and rank is improving by 2+ rank spots.
Middle third of states
(i.e., ranks 18-34)
Neutral/Stable
Doesn't fall into improving, worsening, mixed, unclear, or NA categories.
Neutral/Stable
Trendline is improving/worsening the same amount as the national trend or rank is changing by <2 spots.
Bottom third of states
(i.e., ranks 35-51)
Worsening
Trendline is worsening by >5% and most points are worsening relative to the first data point.
Worsening
Trendline is worsening relative to national trend and rank is declining by 2+ rank spots
Mixed
Large shares of points are improving and worsening by >5% in different parts of the trend.
Mixed
This label only applies when a measure has more than 1 trendline. One trendline is improving and another is worsening.
Unclear
Not enough data to determine a trend.
Unclear
Not enough data to determine a comparison.
Not Applicable
No data.
Not Applicable
No data.
Not Applicable
No data.
For more information on our definitions and methods, please see the Data Notes section.
