[Kenmore]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Who the hell would use WalletHub for their analysis? If they are serious, they'd pull from something more reputable. That's just laughable, and anybody who sees that and buys into it is nothing short of a fool. I knew Illinois Policy Institute has an agenda like so many, but that's just a new low. I'll be sure to steer clear of their analysis from now on if that's how they do things. That's just as bad as a clickbait article - I'd laugh, but it's so sad that it's not funny.

Illinois has a pretty high property tax rate (not the highest though) and sales tax rate for things that aren't groceries, OTC drugs, etc.. but the income tax rate is moderate which essentially balances out the higher property taxes. Interestingly, when we were in Chicago this weekend, we'd met a few people who asked us about COL in NYC including taxes. They were shocked to find out that my income taxes are double what they were in Chicago, and my rent is double (and would be more if living in comparable in Manhattan) while sales tax is not much below Chicago. Then even more shocked when I tell them that the property taxes in suburbs in New Jersey is way worse than the city of Chicago. I've seen this before too with my own friends - so many people are ignorant to these facts. I think people in and around Chicago automatically think they have it the worst and just love to complain while being woefully ignorant to some other places. Once they see the tax rates and housing prices in places like NYC, LA, San Francisco, etc they realize how lucky they are in Chicago. I've noticed it more after leaving Chicago - so many people in the area seem seriously ignorant and just assume Chicago is the worst at literally everything. The people we had just met where these conversations took place basically stopped complaining once I told them how things are in other places. Not saying Chicago is the lowest, but compared to other comparable urban centers like NYC and SF, Chicago is much better in terms of taxation and COL all around.

The Illinois Policy Institute is a far right think tank with an obvious agenda, the only people that take them seriously are boomers sharing faceboom memes