You're Not Escaping Illinois. You're Choosing Florida

So if you're thinking about moving from Illinois to Florida, you're not alone. As a matter of fact, 11,659 people did it last year. Florida was the number one destination state for people leaving Illinois, and it beat out Indiana by only 30 people, so it was really close. But here's what really surprised me when I pulled the numbers, and it's the opposite of what every other video on this subject is telling you. People moving out of the state isn't speeding up, it's actually slowing down. Net outbound migration, meaning the amount of people that have actually left the state versus moved in, from Illinois just hit a 15-year low. And the state has actually grown three years in a row. And what that really means is fewer people are leaving. And I'll tell you, my phone says the same thing. I've taken fewer calls in 2026 from Illinois than I did last year in 2025. But here's what's interesting. Why are five of Chicago's top 10 relocation destinations in Florida? Now, here's what I think is actually going on, and it's the part that the spreadsheet's probably not going to tell you. I asked a guy about an hour south of Chicago, straight up, what's driving your move? And here's what he said, and I'm quoting him directly. It's not so bad in Illinois. It's just that six months out of the year, I can't really do the things that I want. Now, he's a swimmer, and he's a fisherman, and has a very active lifestyle. And that was really his whole answer. And that's not an escape. Nobody I talk to from Illinois is escaping. As a matter of fact, I still have people to tell me they love Chicago. And as a former Midwesterner, as a matter of fact, I have family in Chicago and have spent a lot of time there growing up. I get it. And just recently, I was in a Zoom call with a family from Naperville, who's relocating here to Tampa Bay, where I live. And they told me they still take their kids downtown Chicago to the museums. They love the lifestyle. And the traffic's always been brutal, and they're fine with it. Or another family that I spoke to near the Wisconsin lineup in Kenosha. They told me that summer up there is the greatest place in the world, and it's hard to beat. So why would they be relocating to Florida if that was the case? The reality is they're not leaving because they have to. They're moving because they choose to. And that's probably a completely different move than the one you've been sold by the people who have nothing but negative to say about everybody, essentially. And if we've never met before, almost eight years ago now, my wife Kate and I packed up our family of five, moved 1,200 miles south from the Detroit metro area to the Tampa Bay area, where we've been loving it ever since. I also lead a real estate team here in the area where we've helped almost 200 families make this exact same move. And I'll be straight with you about our own. We came for the lifestyle. That's it. We love the people back home. We just didn't love eight months of the year. And everything else we've come to appreciate about the state of Florida, the way it's run, the tax side, the direction it's headed. And I got to be honest with you, we didn't really understand how any of that was truly going to impact our life until we lived here for a while. And it was only part of why we came. And it was a small portion. But what we found when we got here definitely changed our perspective. And I share that with you so you can know two things. First of all, I'm from the Midwest originally. Understand what the challenges are. Winners are brutal. But I also have bias. We chose to move to Florida and you should know it. And like I said, we love where we live, but not everybody will. And here's something I share with everyone we're on a Zoom call with. Houses are easy. Communities are hard. And I want you to hold on to that because this is the whole video. So here's what you can expect from today. First, what's actually pulling people from Illinois down here. I'm going to share receipts on screen, including the parts that don't flatter Florida. Then the part that matters more, where in Tampa Bay you actually belong. Because the money tells you where you'd leave. It doesn't tell you where you'd land. And getting the second one wrong is what relocation regret actually is. And I'd like you to get this right the very first time you do it. Now, I want to start with this position because I'm not a politician and I don't play one on YouTube. First and foremost, we came for the lifestyle. Let's be real. No one is really moving because of their state budget. Well, maybe it's true if you live in California, but most people aren't doing that. But here's the part that I couldn't have told you before we made the move. Because we just didn't know it yet. About a year after you make the move, you really start noticing the things that are happening underneath you, so to speak. Right? Because you pay the bills, you register your car, you know, picture forms. And you start to see this mental picture, whether you asked for one or not, really. And I'm sharing this not to tell you what to think about our state, just so you're not surprised the way I was. And I'm going to make a comparison. And this is done through math and facts. DeSantis and Pritzker both took office in January of 2019. Two governors, two different states, same month, same year. And they're both in their eighth year right now. And that's really rare. And it means you can compare something instead of arguing about it. And here are the three things in the order that Kate and I really noticed them. Okay, I'm going to start with the big number. And this is the one you're going to feel first. The property tax bill. Illinois has the highest effective property tax rate in the country. It's about 1.79% of what a home is actually worth. New Jersey is the second. Florida is 27th at 0.76. Now, that's a range, y'all. It can go much higher or much lower depending on where you move. But when you zoom into your own county, it sharpens up a little bit. Cook County, as an example, runs roughly two or three and a half percent depending on your township. That is a big number. In Hillsborough County, where Tampa proper is, most homeowners' property taxes land around one to 1.2%. So if you take that same Chicago home and compare it to a Tampa home, you're often cutting your tax bill in half or better. Number two is your paycheck. Illinois takes a flat 4.95%. Let's just call it what it is. 5% of your paycheck goes to the state every single month. Now, Florida takes nothing. And it's written into the state constitution. So it isn't just a policy that someone can flip during the next general session. And that's something we knew going in because our state income tax in Michigan was 4.25%. But what I didn't really understand was how much it changes what you say yes to. Now, number three on this list, and I only learned this from watching the local news down here and really diving into things, is the credit rating. And bear with me because I know this isn't the sexiest talk, but I think you got to compare apples to apples, right? Illinois is the lowest rated state in the country. And it just got upgraded twice in one week to its best rating in over 20 years. Congratulations to that. It's climbing, but it's still last. Now, Florida has a triple A credit rating and so do about a dozen other states. And right now you're probably thinking, why should I care about this? Well, it's about what that buys and what it costs you. Now, according to the governor's office, so take this for what you will, Florida has returned about $9.7 billion in tax relief to residents. And our reserves are near $8 billion. And I want to stop here for a moment because I didn't say deficit. Our surplus is near $8 billion. So if you're wondering how this ties back to the credit rating, the cost is that Florida keeps state taxes low, partly by pushing more of that bill down to your county, your city, and your fees, which brings me to the one piece of this that has a date on it. And if you're relocating to the area, you definitely need to know about this. And that's the property tax amendment on the Florida ballot in November. That's amendment three. If it passes and it needs 60%, the homestead exemption on non-school taxes goes from about $50,000 annually to over $150,000 in 2027 and up to $250,000 in 28. And I'm going to explain what this means here in a second. School taxes aren't included, which means our schools are fully funded because I know that you've probably heard Florida schools are terrible. They underfund them. Guess what? Even with a property tax reduction that we get to vote on, schools aren't touched. So I want you to get that out of your mind already because you've probably seen doomers out there or posts claiming that it wipes out property taxes for 60% of homeowners. And that's not true. 60% is the vote threshold, not the amount of homeowners that this affects. And this is the most important part to you. If you establish your Florida residency on or after January 1st of 2027 and you get a smaller homestead exemption, you don't qualify for the big one until your fifth year of living in the state. And now we talk about the cost because I won't just give you the upside alone. State economists put it around $12 billion a year. Counties will lose anywhere from 2% to 24% of their property tax revenue. Cities will be close to 38% on average. And that's going to have to come from somewhere. So as a resident here, we're going to have to watch our local fees, not just your property tax bill. So this is something you have to keep in mind. Now, if you're watching this and you're moving here in the next couple months, I'm not telling you how to vote. And honestly, I don't know if this is going to pass, but I'm telling you what this does. So you can watch the numbers either way. But here's the reality of it. None of that is why we decided to move here and probably not why you're moving here too. We moved here because we were done with eight months of the year. The tax side, the pro-business side, the freedom to raise our family the way we wanted. We found all of those things after we got here. And we chose this place well before it was a trendy move to make. And it isn't perfect, but it did line up with what we cared about. And the one thing I love most about what no one puts in a video, down here, whichever side of the aisle somebody is on, we talk like rational humans and not activists. At least that's what I've experienced. My neighbor and I disagree about plenty. As a matter of fact, I'm a Michigan fan. He's a Penn State fan. Not everyone can be saved, right? But the reality is, is we still borrow each other's ladder. So what I'm trying to say here is make sure that you take what fits your family and leave the rest. And one more thing I noticed when I was in the numbers, 89% of Chicago homebuyers are still searching inside of Chicago, which says that most people stay. And most people probably should, to be honest with you, because here's what all of it has in common. Not one of those numbers tells you where to live. They make a move possible, that's all. Two families with the same budget and the same tax savings buy in two different parts of Tampa Bay, and one is thrilled while the other one is quietly miserable by Thanksgiving. They use the same math, but made very different decisions about where to live. Now, that's the part that I can actually help with. So the first thing I think you should do is stop thinking about Tampa as just one place. You already know Chicago isn't one thing. River North is not Naperville. Quaker Park is not Hinsdale. They're different worlds, different people, different weekends. Nobody from Chicago says, I'm moving to Chicago and stops there. You'd say the neighborhood because the neighborhood is the whole point. I mean, we have friends that live up in Lincoln Park and they absolutely love it there. We love our experience every time we visit them. But I recognize that's not Chicago proper. And Tampa Bay works exactly the same way. And almost no one moving here treats it that way. You know, they'll say we're moving to Tampa and then they'll buy a house that they thought was really cute on Zillow. So here's the test that I use with our clients. I call it the Chicago map test. Find the version of Tampa Bay that matches your version of Chicago that you actually loved and with the lifestyle that you want to live in the future. So let's get into those three Tampas. Let's start with Tampa one. Vertical, walkable, downtown. If your version of Chicago was River North or the Gold Coast, the loop, high rise and walk to dinner and energy out the front door, your Tampa Bay is going to be Water Street in the Channel District downtown. Or perhaps even Hyde Park if you want that same walkability with older bones and some oak canopies over the street. It's dense, walkable. The water's right there. Bayshore Boulevard is incredible. And this is the Tampa for the person who does not want a lawn and has no intention of pretending otherwise. So that moves us to Tampa number two. This is probably going to be for that creative gritty turn polished. You know, if your Chicago was Wicker Park, Logan Square, Bucktown, murals and coffee shops and a fierce loyalty to your specific six blocks, your Tampa, as a matter of fact, isn't in Tampa at all. It's actually in St. Pete. And we're talking about the Grand Central District, the Warehouse Arts District. You're looking for a bungalow in the northeast, uptown or even historic Kenwood. These neighborhoods have a super strong identity, real character in a downtown waterfront that punches way above its weight class. And forgive me, I'm not from Chicago. We've spent time there. So I only compare these things in my experience. But St. Pete is really like the Logan Square of the Gulf Coast. And that's the best example that I could probably give you. In Tampa number three, we're talking about space, schools, master plan communities. You know, if your Chicago was Naperville or Schaumburg or Hinsdale, square footage in cul-de-sacs and a garage that you can actually park in, your Tampa Bay is going to be that North Wesley Chapel, Lutes, Lando Lakes area, or to the south in areas like Lakewood Ranch, Fishhawk Ranch out to the east, and even Sarasota. We're talking about resort style pools, sport complexes, pickleball, all the things you could ever want, A-rated schools and room to breathe. And here's why I'm so passionate about this and why it matters more than the house you choose. And I say it this way on every Zoom call that we have with our clients. If I handed you and your significant other each three million dollars, so you got six million bucks to design your dream home, you could get a lot of house. Design it from tip to tail. It would be absolute perfection. But if we took that house and we put it in the wrong community, you would end up hating it. And that's how you know that the home is not the most important thing. And it's not just the figure of speech. And I've watched this happen to people who relocate here. So picture the version of Chicago you are happiest in. Not the version on Instagram, a normal Tuesday, if you will. Where were you walking to coffee? Was it a neighborhood bar where they knew what your order was before you even sat down? At your kid's travel soccer game out in the suburbs on Saturday morning? And that answer is your community that you're looking for. And not the postcard that you see of St. Pete or Clearwater Beach. Yes, they're absolutely stunning and you're going to love them. But we all know that's not how everybody lives every single day. And it's also not the prettiest house you can find on Zillow, right? And here's how you should check it. Don't just take my word for it. Go to the grocery store in the community where you're considering moving to. Not just the model home, the sales center. Go to the Publix at 4.30 on a Tuesday. Because nobody goes to a grocery store except for the people who live there, right? Because you can learn more in 20 minutes of standing in that parking lot than you can a full day of looking at houses in any community. Then go sit in the local park. People at parks are not afraid to tell you what they hate about where they live. Just ask them. Because the reality is they'll tell you a lot and they'll tell you fast. This is exactly what Kate and I did before we decided to make the move here. We went to the park. We took our kids. We asked a lot of questions. And don't be afraid to give it a couple weekends or a couple weeks if that's what's necessary. Fly in on a Thursday night and leave on a Sunday. And do it twice. Odds are by the end of that second weekend, you'll have a pretty good idea of what areas are calling you. And that's how you can make sure you get it right. Match the community first and then the house search gets really easy. Because now you'll be able to choose between good options instead of guessing in the dark. Honestly y'all, if you get that part wrong, if you get the community wrong, there isn't a house big enough or pretty enough to fix that problem. Because like I said earlier, houses are the easy part. The community is the hard part. And that's the whole game. Now as someone who has helped over 200 families relocate, our job is to make sure that you don't step on landmines, so to speak. And the first is strip mall shock. And this is going to hit the Wicker Park and River North people the hardest. Because if you were a walkable neighborhood person up there and somebody sells you a big house on a six lane road with a public and a nail salon as your downtown, you're going to feel that by month three. And that itch you can't name is going to be the missing sidewalks. Make sure you protect that. St. Pete, Hyde Park, Downtown Dunedin, Water Street, even Safety Harbor. Don't try to recreate a suburb you never really wanted. Number two, this is where the calendar flips. Everybody plans for leaving the cold. Nobody plans for August. The weather here is worse than you think in the middle of the summer and better than you think too. And I know that sounds contrarian. It is and I'll explain it here in a minute. But up north, you hide inside in January and February. Down here, you ease up outside in the deep summer and you live outside from October to May. So you're trading a five month gray season for a five month perfect season. And that's the exchange that we were willing to make. And a lot of our clients are too. But go in with this knowing that the calendar flips. Summers here can be tough. You get used to it. There's no doubt about it. I mean, as an example, y'all, when we moved down here, our air condition was set at 70 degrees our first year. It's going into year eight of the eight years in December. Our air conditioner right now, it is September. It is hot. We are set at 77. So it's crept up every single year. And some of you are going, oh my goodness. And we were those people too. Trust me, I understand. But if you go into this knowing that the calendar flips, you can pick a community with a pool and shade and the indoor outdoor flow that fits your lifestyle. And number three is the schools. This is a big one for the Naperville and Hinsdale crowd. Because you're probably used to a zip code just handing you a great school. And this is one of those landmines that you can absolutely step on because Florida runs school of choice. And it's a real advantage, but it also means you have to do your homework instead of just trusting the boundary you're moving into. Because there are great A-rated schools here, but you can't just assume. You have to verify. And when it comes to school districts, there are very few from tip to tail that are a 10 out of 10. So make sure you're gonna line up your school with the community before, not after. Number four is the cost of ownership, which is where I lose most people. Your property tax drops, your insurance and your maintenance is probably going to go up. The sun here is hard on things. And we get 250 days of it. We're talking max UV rays and anything petroleum-based does not hold up. Think about what is petroleum-based, your roof, your vinyl fences. So that asphalt roof that you still get 25 to 30 years up north is now only gonna last you 20 to 25. And when it comes to insurance, think of it this way, you hide from the wind and you run from the water. And here's the thing, no insurance policy covers rising groundwater. Non-flood, non-evacuation is a real filter that we use with our clients if they're not going to live right on the coast. Now, this isn't me talking you out of it. It's just me saying, run the whole numbers, not just the headline number. Some of what you save on your tax bill goes right back out on the ownership side. What's left over is still real. Trust me, I'm living proof of it. I just don't want you to be surprised by it. And here's a really good one. A lot of you are quietly worried that leaving Chicago means leaving the people that you love. But think about it, Tampa to O'Hare is a two and a half to three hour nonstop flight, multiple times a day, basically every airline. So make sure to put that in your back pocket next time a little guilt creeps in. Now, here's why I cover all this because we don't want you to have to move twice. And the reality is in 15 years of helping people move, I've never had a client have to move twice. And that's not luck. It's making sure that we match the right community with your ideal lifestyle that you have in mind before falling in love with any single house. So if we zoom all the way out, Chicago is voting with its feet and Florida is where it is going. Five of the top 10 destinations for anyone relocating from Illinois. And the numbers behind this are real. And I just showed them to you with sources, including the ones that don't even flatter the state of Florida. But the numbers are the easy part. They tell you a portion of why you're leaving. They don't tell you where to land. And that's what really decides whether you love your new life here or you hate it in two years, not the house, the community, because houses are easy, communities are hard. So I can give you the map and I can give you the versions and the landmines and the tax math. But what I can't do is tell you what's going to feel like home to you. Only you can feel that. The way we describe it is we're here to be a guide because I can't decide for you. And I never want somebody to do that for me either. It's your life, your money, your family. And it should be a heck yes or a no. Now here's one thing you can do after watching this video. No phone call required. Write down the three Chicago neighborhoods you were happiest in or you know you would be happiest in. And next to each one, write what you actually did there in a normal week. Walk to coffee, kids games, the bar on the corner. And that list is your brief. It's the version of Tampa Bay we're looking for. And when you've got that list and you want a hand mapping it out into real communities down here, matching the Tampa Bay to your budget and lining up the schools and the flood insurance, homework. So there's no surprises. That's what me and my team do. The link is in the description. We'll hop on a Zoom call and see this through your eyes. Because the reality is y'all, you don't need to buy a house. You need to get this right. Now, if you've gotten any value out of this video, don't hesitate to like and subscribe. I'm going to put two more videos up here that are going to go deep on specific areas we talked about today so they can help you better understand the area. Don't hesitate to take us up on that Zoom call. Links in the description down below. We'll see you on the next one.