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FHA Loans in Illinois

About This State and its People, Places, and Industries

Illinois is the 21st state admitted to the United States of America, is the most populous and demographically diverse Midwestern state and the fifth most populous state in the nation. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and western Illinois, and natural resources like coal, timber, and petroleum in the south, Illinois has a broad economic base. Illinois is an important transportation hub; the Port of Chicago connects the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River via the Illinois River. Illinois is often viewed as a microcosm of the United States; an Associated Press analysis of 21 demographic factors found Illinois the "most average state", while Peoria has long been a proverbial social and cultural bellwether.

United States migrant settlers began arriving from Kentucky in the 1810s; Illinois achieved statehood in 1818. The future metropolis of Chicago was founded in the 1830s on the banks of the Chicago River, one of the few natural harbors on southern Lake Michigan. Railroads and John Deere's invention of the self-scouring steel plow made central Illinois' rich prairie into some of the world's most productive and valuable farmlands, attracting immigrant farmers from Germany and Sweden.

By 1900, the growth of industrial jobs in the northern cities and coal mining in the central and southern areas attracted immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe. Its manufacturing made the state a major arsenal in both world wars. The Great Migration of African Americans from the rural South to Chicago formed a large and important community that created the city's famous jazz and blues cultures. Today, approximately 74% of the population of Illinois resides in the northeastern corner of the state, primarily within the city of Chicago and the surrounding area.

Three U.S. Presidents have been elected while they were living in Illinois — Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, and Barack Obama. However, the only US President actually born in Illinois was Ronald Reagan, who was born in Tampico, raised in Dixon, and attended college at Eureka. Lincoln is the only president buried in Illinois; he is interred at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield. Today, Illinois demonstrates the importance of Lincoln's legacy to the state by the official state slogan, Land of Lincoln, which is displayed on all state-issued license plates.

As of 2008, Illinois has an estimated population of 12,901,563, which is an increase of 75,754 from the prior year and an increase of 481,903 or 3.9%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 644,967 people; that is, 1,505,709 births minus 860,742 deaths and a decrease due to the net migration of 159,182 people out of the state. International immigration to the state resulted in an increase of 425,893 people and domestic migration produced a loss of 585,075 people.

As of the 2007 estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 1,768,518 foreign-born inhabitants of the state or 13.8% of the population, with 48.4% from Latin America, 24.6% from Asia, 22.8% from Europe, 2.9% from Africa, 1.2% from Northern America and 0.2% from Oceania. Of the foreign-born population, 43.7% were naturalized U.S. citizens and 56.3% were not U.S. citizens.[37] Additionally, the racial distributions were as follows: 65.0% White American, 15.0% African American, 14.9% Latino American, 4.3% Asian American, 0.3% American Indian and Alaska Natives, and 0.1% Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islander American.[38] In 2007, 6.9% of Illinois' population was reported as being under age 5, 24.9% under age 18 and 12.1% were age 65 and over. Females made up approximately 50.7% of the population.[38]

According to the 2007 estimates, 21.1% of the population had German ancestry, 13.3% had Irish ancestry, 7.9% had Polish ancestry, 6.7% had English ancestry, 6.4% had Italian ancestry, 4.6% listed themselves as American, 2.4% had Swedish ancestry, 2.2% had French ancestry, other than Basque, 1.6% had Dutch ancestry, 1.4% had Norwegian ancestry and 1.3% had Scottish ancestry.[37] Also, 21.8% of the population age 5 years and over reported speaking a language other than English, with 12.8% of the population speaking Spanish, 5.6% speaking other Indo-European languages, 2.5% speaking Asian and Austronesian languages, and 0.8% speaking other languages.

At the northern edge of the state on Lake Michigan lies Chicago, the nation's third largest city. In 2000, 23.3% of the population lived in the city of Chicago, 43.3% in Cook County and 65.6% in the counties of the Chicago metropolitan area: Will, DuPage, Kane, Lake and McHenry counties, as well as Cook County. The remaining population lives in the smaller cities and rural areas that dot the state's plains. As of 2000, the state's center of population was at, located in Grundy County, northeast of the village of Mazon.

The current dollar gross state product for Illinois was estimated to be US$634 billion in 2008. The state's 2008 per capita gross state product was estimated to be US$40,006, and the state's per capita personal income was estimated to be US$41,411 in 2009.

Illinois' state income tax is calculated by multiplying net income by a flat rate, currently 3%.There are two rates for state sales tax: 6.25% for general merchandise and 1% for qualifying food, drugs and medical appliances. The property tax is the largest single tax in Illinois, and is the major source of tax revenue for local government taxing districts. The property tax is a local — not state — tax, imposed by local government taxing districts, which include counties, townships, municipalities, school districts and special taxation districts. The property tax in Illinois is imposed only on real property. As of March 2010, the state's unemployment rate was 11.5%, and two months later, the rate dropped to 10.8% in May.

Because of its large population, Chicago is the focus of most professional sports in Illinois, though St. Louis sports teams and Indianapolis sports teams are also supported in areas of the state in closer proximity to those cities. The state houses two Major League Baseball teams. The Chicago Cubs of the National League play in the second-oldest major league stadium (Wrigley Field) and are widely known for not winning the World Series, since 1908. The Chicago White Sox of the American League won the World Series in 2005, their first since 1917. The Chicago Bears football team has won nine total NFL Championships, the last occurring in Super Bowl XX in 1986. Coincidentally, the city's Arena Football League team, the Chicago Rush, won Arena Bowl XX in 2006. The Chicago Bulls of the NBA is one of the most recognized basketball teams in the world, due largely to the efforts of Michael Jordan, who led the team to six NBA championships in eight seasons in the 1990s. The Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL began playing in 1926, as a member of the Original Six and have won four Stanley Cups, most recently in 2010 (after one of the longest Stanley Cup droughts of any NHL team, not having won since 1961). The Chicago Fire soccer club is a member of MLS and is one of the league's most successful and best-supported, since its founding in 1997, winning one league and four Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cups in that time span. The Chicago Wolves is an AHL team that is also very popular and has been a winning team since its first season. The Chicago Sky of the WNBA and the Chicago Bandits of the NPF, who won their first title in 2008, are also located in the city. In 2009 the Chicago Red Stars played their first season in WPS. The city was formerly home to several other teams, such as the Chicago Cardinals of the NFL, the Chicago Cougars of the WHA, the Chicago Rockers of the CBA, the Chicago Skyliners of the IBL, the Chicago Bruisers of Arena Football, the Chicago Blitz of the USFL, the Chicago Sting of the MISL, the Chicago Power of the NPSL and the Chicago Blaze of the NWBL. Chicago is not the only place in Illinois where professional sports are played. The Rockford Lightning is one of the oldest CBA teams in the league. The Peoria Chiefs and Kane County Cougars are minor league baseball teams affiliated with MLB. The Schaumburg Flyers, Southern Illinois Miners, and Joliet Jack Hammers are prominent independent minor league baseball teams. In addition to the Chicago Wolves, the AHL also has two teams in Illinois outside of Chicago: the Rockford Ice Hogs serves as the AHL affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks, and the Peoria Rivermen is the AHL affiliate of the St. Louis Blues. Illinois has a long tradition of motor racing. Oval tracks in Joliet, Cicero and Madison have hosted NASCAR, CART and IRL races, whereas the Sports Car Club of America among other national and regional road racing clubs have visited circuits in Joliet, South Beloit and Carpentersville. Illinois also has several short tracks and drag strips.

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