Michigan managed to poach more than 13,000 taxpayers from economically ailing Illinois in 2013, according to a Northern Illinois University analysis of U.S. Census Data.
According to the 2015 NIU Center for Governmental Studies analysis, Michigan gained 13,669 former Illinois residents in 2013 alone, and 44,264 from 2010 to 2013.
That may be a sign of both Illinois’ worsening fiscal and economic state as well as Michigan’s economic comeback.
“There are many factors at work here, and census information only tells us so much,” said Sherrie Taylor, a researcher at CGS. “But we do know that most of those who left in recent years took jobs in those other states, so that suggests economic factors – either better opportunities or perhaps concerns about Illinois’ delicate financial health.”