Expert Movers Warn Illinois 1 of the Worst States You Can Move To

For what it's worth, I'm not on board with all of the stay away from Illinois at all costs lists that occasionally get passed around the internet. However, I'm not an expert mover and there are several moving companies that seem to be in agreement that you might want to avoid moving to the Land of Lincoln.

Consumer Affairs just shared a brand new list of the best and worst states to move to for 2024. Their research team ranked states in 5 categories - affordability, economy, education and health, quality of life, and safety.

Where does Illinois rank among the states you could potentially move to?

You'll have to scroll through their rankings almost all the way to the bottom as Illinois is ranked 39th in America. So what's the problem (they say) with Illinois? Illinois gets dinged hard ranking worst for affordability, near the bottom for economy and education and health. Wanna hear something funny? Illinois actually ranks rather high on their list for safety. I actually agree that most of Illinois is rather safe especially in the rural parts of the state. Chicago at midnight? Probably not.

I dug into the minutia of the different categories and affordability weighs property taxes heavily into their equation which is not a strong point for Illinois. Quality of life is a bit of a mystery as they say they factored in public transportation, road quality and weather. So Illinois is sacked for severe thunderstorms?

Let me be clear that I think Illinois gets a bit of a bum rap. Are property taxes unpleasant? I think that's fair. Is crime really rampant? Not really. I have lived in Illinois off and on throughout my life and have never had any problems. Life is really what you make it and while I find these lists interesting, I don't think you should base any real life decisions on moving on them.