People Leaving Illinois in Big Numbers Most Move to This Florida City

In 2022, Illinois ranked second in the nation for residents packing up and finding a new place to call home. For most Illinoisans, it's this Florida city.

For nearly a decade, residents of Illinois have been leaving the state at a significant rate. The two biggest reasons given for leaving Illinois, when I've asked friends who've moved, are taxes (business and personal) and January.

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What Do You Hate Most About Living in Illinois

January is always our coldest month (February runs a close 2nd) and the winters are always on the list of things residents hate about living in Illinois.

RELATED: ’25 Worst Places’ To Live In Illinois

The last time I wrote about where Illinois residents move to most when they leave was in 2021. At that time, these were the 5 most popular states to move to:

1. Indiana
2. Florida
3. California
4. Texas
5. Wisconsin

When your Illinois job is too good to leave completely, you move just across the stateline to Indiana or Wisconsin.

Chicago is the city that sees the largest amount of residents moving out of state and according to a study from the real estate website Redfin, Florida is still a favored state, but now we know the exact city.

According to the study, Cape Coral, Florida is the city most who leave Chicaog are moving to more than anywhere else.

Cape Coral sits on the Gulf coast, with more than 400 miles of canals. Cape Coral is just about 10 miles west of Fort Myers. The study does not share why Cape Coral is such a popular spot, but these photos sure tell me why.

If you're not ready to move to Florida, there might be a better place to live in Illinois than where you currently are living, see the list below.

READ MORE: 9 Illinois Cities Among Most Affordable & Safest Places to Live