This report was published in partnership with the Illinois Policy Institute.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A low-income person’s ability to move up in society is worse in Illinois than in any other Midwestern state, and 40th lowest nationally. Illinois is below average on each of the four aspects determining social mobility – entrepreneurship and economic growth, institutions and the rule of law, education and skills development, and social capital. The state scores particularly low on the first two. Low social mobility puts opportunity and the American Dream out of reach for many Illinoisans, especially the poor, disadvantaged and minorities.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Many of the problems contributing to Illinois’ inequitable lack of opportunity are the product of harmful man-made policies. This means they have man-made solutions.
Illinois’ elected leaders have a chance to turn the state into a true “opportunity society” that empowers people to unleash their potential. This report provides a reform agenda for how Illinois can become a leader in social mobility. Here are the top recommendations to achieve that:
Illinois can become a leader in social mobility
- Unleash individual and business potential by significantly reducing harmful regulations from 282,000 (4th most in country) to 150,000, still well above the national average.
- Improve housing affordability by making it easier to build through zoning and permitting reform.
- Remove barriers to opportunity, especially by becoming a leader in occupational licensing reform, through a more robust sunset review process and universal license recognition.
- Adopt a fairer justice system with fewer disproportionate fines and fees and less abusive civil asset forfeiture policies.
- Establish a fair tax code that encourages individuals and businesses to move here instead of to leave, including by adopting the median national property tax rate of 0.76%, instead of the nation’s second-highest rate of 1.95%.
- Institute an education system that provides students the tools to have successful careers, including by reinstating and expanding school choice to empower poor and minority students and improving the return on investing in a state university education.
- Celebrate the “success sequence” of finishing high school, getting a full-time job, getting married, then having kids as a proven way to expand social mobility and strengthen families.
Read Social Mobility in the 50 States here.
Illinois-Low-Social-Mobility_2025
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