Illinois has the 5th best quality of life in US, new report says. Here’s what contributed

Illinois is one of the best states to live in the U.S., especially for quality of life, according to a new ranking from finance website WalletHub.

The Aug. 12 Best States to Live in 2024 analysis compared all 50 U.S. states for 51 metrics in five categories, including affordability, economy, education and health, quality of life and safety. Illinois landed in 37th place for affordability, 49th place for economy, 22nd for education and health, fifth for quality of life and sixth for safety.

WalletHub ranked the Land of Lincoln the 16th best state to live in overall, while Missouri was in 31st. Massachusetts received the top spot on the list and Louisiana was ranked in 50th place.

Cost of living, home ownership rate, unemployment, public school quality, average commute times and crime rates were all considered in the state’s placements. WalletHub reports its sources included the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and more.

More on Illinois’ ranking

Illinois ranked in the top 10 for several categories. The state was in seventh place for a metric on the lowest debt to earnings ratio for full-time employees, and also snagged a fourth place position for access to public transportation.

Other categories where Illinois ranked highly include restaurants per capita (fifth), bars per capita (second), theaters per capita (fourth), gyms per capita (seventh) and police officers per capita (sixth). Many of these categories contributed to Illinois’ fifth place quality of life ranking.

The state struggled in metrics such as median real estate tax rate, unemployment rate, underemployment rate, population growth, wealth gap, “tax-friendliness,” foreclosure rates, job opportunities, bankruptcy filings and average commute time.

Here’s more on life in Illinois, from the Census Bureau:

• Population estimate: 12,549,689

• Race and Hispanic origin: 76% white alone, 58.8% white alone not Hispanic or Latino, 19% Hispanic or Latino, 14.6% Black or African American alone, 6.3% Asian alone, 2.3% two or more races, 0.6% Native American and Alaska Native alone, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander alone

• Median monthly home ownership cost with mortgage: $1,903

• Median rent: $1,179

• Median household income: $78,433

• Poverty rate: 11.9%

Several Illinois localities have been recently lauded in national rankings. Prairie Crossing, a subdivision of Grayslake, was named in financial magazine Money’s list The Best 50 Places to Live in the U.S., and Elgin was named the safest and most affordable city to live in the nation by Go Banking Rates.

Peoria and Rockford each made a U.S. News & World Report list for the 25 Best Affordable Places to Live in the U.S.

Best states to live in

Here’s how the top 25 best states to live in compared, according to WalletHub:

1. Massachusetts

2. Florida

3. New Jersey

4. Utah

5. New Hampshire

6. Idaho

7. Pennsylvania

8. Wisconsin

9. New York

10. Wyoming

11. Virginia

12. Iowa

13. Minnesota

14. Maine

15. Montana

16. Illinois

17. North Dakota

18. South Dakota

19. Vermont

20. Kansas

21. Colorado

22. Connecticut

23. North Carolina

24. Nebraska

25. Georgia

Do you have a question about living in Illinois for our service journalism team? We’d like to hear from you. Fill out our Metro-east Matters form below.

This story was originally published August 23, 2024 at 10:32 AM.

Meredith Howard

Belleville News-Democrat

Meredith Howard is a service journalist with the Belleville News-Democrat. She is a Baylor University graduate and has previously freelanced with the Illinois Times and the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. Support my work with a digital subscription