Illinois is home to nine housing markets out of the study’s 50 that are turning ugly. One of the biggest downsides to homeownership in Illinois is the state’s high property taxes. In some areas of Illinois, property tax rates rise above 3%. Peoria and Aurora are among the ten worst.

With an ‘F’ grade and labeled a “sinkhole state,” Illinois ranks second from last.

A 2017 analysis of Illinois pension spending data found that the state contributes $566 more per student in the wealthiest schools than in the poorest. Wirepoints, too, published a special report on the same issue, linked here.

There were two more pension setbacks last week, this time associated with local communities’ often underfunded fire and police pensions. Slowly, the noose is tightening around the necks of taxpayers and public officials statewide, proving once again that ignoring pension woes won’t cause them to go away but, instead, to get worse.

Wall Street has a number of reasons to be concerned about the credit quality of Illinois, the lowest-rated U.S. state: mounting pension obligations, billions of dollars in unpaid bills and a shrinking population. Now investors can add climate change to that list.