In 4 Years, Illinois Has Lost a Jaw-Dropping Number of Workers

Numbers are not my specialty, but it doesn't take a math genius to be completely befuddled about the sheer number of workers that have left the state of Illinois in just 4 short years. It's really remarkable by just about any measure.

I saw this interesting study about workers that have left the states they're in over the past 4 years to seek employment elsewhere. It was shared by 24/7 Wall St and the results are not completely surprising, but the numbers are.

Since there's an ongoing narrative and perception that 'everyone' is leaving Illinois, it's not really a shock to see the Land of Lincoln near the top of the list. The data apparently originated from BLS and Bloomberg.

Here's the not surprising part. Illinois is 3rd in America when it comes to losing workers from 2020 through today.

Here's the surprising number: 6,168,473

Imagine losing more than 6 million workers in just one state (in this instance being Illinois) in less than half a decade. Remarkable. Only California and New York State lost more workers than Illinois and that's including vastly larger overall populations.

I don't completely buy in to the narrative that everyone is leaving Illinois or even a majority. I do understand the state faces challenges and not many are easy to solve. I guess this new ranking is a reminder that attracting and keeping new people for the workforce should be high on that priority list.