According To A New Poll, Half Of Illinois Residents Would Move If They Could

By Lisa White in News on May 2, 2014 2:10PM

Another day, another poll referencing how self-loathing the state of Illinois can be. Gallup released a new poll yesterday that asked 600 residents in each state “Regardless of whether you will move, if you had the opportunity, would you like to move to another state, or would you rather remain in your current state?” And topping the list with the most percentage of people wanting to move? Illinois, of course. According to the poll figures, half of Illinois residents would move to another state if they could. Connecticut and Maryland came in close behind with a little less than half.

While we topped the charts with wanting to move, Illinois came in third when asked if they would actually move, trailing behind Nevada and Arizona. Of course beautiful scenic places like Hawaii, Montana and Maine had the lowest percentage of residents wanting to move away. The Tribune is quick to point out some of the flaws in this poll, chatting with Brian Gaines, political scientist at University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. Gaines points out that since the poll has a margin of error that is plus/minus 5 percent, Illinois could actually be tied or faring better than the other states listed in the top three. “It is sort of noisy data. There are a lot of reasons why people want to move, and it could be that they have a problem with their city or local area more than their state,” Gaines told the Tribune.

Gaines makes a valid point, since someone living in Chicago clearly would have different qualms about government and quality of life on a local level compared to someone residing in Mattoon or Peoria. Sure, our high property tax statewide and our history of corruption at a state level isn’t helping anyone, but we’ve usually encountered people across the state finding solidarity in their complaints and usually asking the question “how can we fix this?” rather than “how can I get the hell out of here?” Chicago has more than its fair share of issues and yes, we bitch about the plethora of problems that plague our city. But its still our city to bitch about and we love it even with the flaws. Sure, we see friends leave and move to greener pastures (and Gallup is spot-on with the reasoning usually being because of “work/business-related” issues) but much more than 50 percent of our friends want to stay. And you only asked 600 people in each state? Step your game up, Gallup.

So how about it, readers? Should you stay or should you go and if so, where would you plan on moving to?