50 in 50: Illinois

Key Economic Indicators

GDP: $774.6 billion

GDP 5-year compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) (2017-2021): 0.6% (U.S: 1.6%)

GDP per capita: $61,946 (U.S.: $58,154)

Population: 12.7 million

Population 5-year CAGR (2017-2021): -0.2% (U.S.: 0.5%)

Unemployment: 4.6% (U.S.: 3.9%)

Economic outlook ranking: #45 out of 50

Fiscal health ranking: #48 out of 50

Overall tax climate ranking: #36 out of 50

Key Sectors and Metro Areas

Top five industry sectors by 2021 GDP:

Top three industry sectors by GDP 5-year CAGR (2017-2021):

Top three metro areas by GDP:

• Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
• Peoria
• Rockford

Top three metro areas by population 5-year CAGR (2016-2020):

• Champaign-Urbana
• Bloomington
• Chicago-Naperville-Elgin

Infrastructure Highlights

Infrastructure: ASCE Infrastructure Grade (2022): C-

In Illinois, according to the ASCE, the infrastructure for roads, transit, drinking water, stormwater, and inland waterways is considered mediocre or poor. Of those, drinking water is the only category that received a lower grade compared to the 2018 report card.

Investments of nearly $150 million in ports helped improve the inland waterways grade. Meanwhile, the drinking water category got worse as more groundwater supply systems are in violation of EPA regulations and issues with leaking pipes and water main breaks have increased in recent years.

This May, over $120 million in new infrastructure grants were awarded to 34 localities across Illinois for roads, bridges, and water treatment upgrade projects as part of the Rebuild Illinois Public Infrastructure (RIPI) Capital Program. The initiative is expected to provide over $3 billion to support critical infrastructure in the state in the next four to five years. Over a similar time period, Illinois will receive nearly $18 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law divided into the following categories of projects (additional program funds with competitive grants may be deployed):

• Private Nonresidential 2020 CPiP: $8.4 billion; -3.6% 5-year CAGR (2016-2020), below overall U.S. CAGR of 2.0%
• State & Local 2020 CPiP: $11.6 billion; 4.0% 5-year CAGR (2016-2020), below overall U.S. CAGR of 4.8%

AE Industry

ENR 500 firm headquarters (2022): 28

M&A activity since 2018:

• 98 deals with buyers from Illinois
• 49 deals with sellers from Illinois

For customized market research, contact Rafael Barbosa at [email protected] or 972.266.4955. Connect with him on LinkedIn.