At least 13 well-known companies have moved their headquarters out of Illinois since 2017, most of them since 2022. No official source totals the tax each one paid, because Illinois does not publish company returns. The best measure is the IRS migration data: from 2017 through 2023 Illinois lost a net $53.3 billion in adjusted gross income to people moving out — worth roughly $2.6 billion in first-year state income tax, and an estimated $10 billion cumulatively if those residents stayed gone.
Headquarters that left the state
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| Company | Moved to | Year | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caterpillar | Irving, TX | 2022 | Peoria → Deerfield (2017) → Texas; about 230 corporate jobs after nearly 100 years in Illinois. |
| Boeing | Arlington, VA | 2022 | Global HQ left Chicago after about 20 years. |
| Citadel / Citadel Securities | Miami, FL | 2022 | Ken Griffin's firm; up to ≈400 people transferred, 1,000+ employed locally at the time. |
| Tyson Foods | Springdale, AR | 2022 | Closed downtown Chicago and Downers Grove offices. |
| Beam Suntory | New York, NY | 2022 | Corporate HQ relocated mid-2022. |
| Guggenheim Partners | Out of state | 2022 | Moved significant parts of its Chicago presence. |
| Tenneco | Northville Twp., MI | 2022–23 | After its $7.1B sale to Apollo. |
| Great Lakes Dredge & Dock | Houston, TX | 2023 | Cited the dredging market shifting to the Gulf. |
| Schumacher Electric | Fort Worth, TX | 2023 | Battery-charger maker; HQ left the Chicago suburbs. |
| TTX Company | Charlotte, NC | 2023–25 | Railcar lessor; West Loop HQ move completed 2025. |
| Morton Salt | Overland Park, KS | 2024 | A Chicago company since 1848. |
| PEAK6 Investments | Austin, TX | 2025 | Effective January 1 2025. |
| True Value | Fort Wayne, IN | 2026 | After ≈78 years in Chicago, following its 2024 acquisition by Do it Best. |
Major operations moved or closed
- Stellantis idled the Belvidere Assembly Plant in 2023.
- SC Johnson is moving about 170 employees from downtown Chicago to Racine, Wisconsin by the end of 2026.
- Chicago Bears (pending): the board voted in June 2026 to advance a stadium project in Hammond, Indiana.
Two more left Chicago but stayed in Illinois, shrinking the city's tax base if not the state's: Walgreens is vacating its Old Post Office offices for its Deerfield campus from 2026, and Ryerson moved its headquarters staff to Downers Grove in early 2025.
The income that left with residents
Net adjusted gross income lost to other states, per IRS Statistics of Income migration data, with the state income tax it represents at 4.95%:
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| Tax year | Net AGI lost | State income tax on it |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | $6.8B | $337M |
| 2018 | $5.6B | $277M |
| 2019 | $6.0B | $297M |
| 2020 | $8.5B | $421M |
| 2021 | $10.6B | $525M |
| 2022 | $9.8B | $485M |
| 2023 | $6.0B | $297M |
| Total 2017–2023 | $53.3B | $2.64B |
Who is leaving: in 2023 the people who left Illinois averaged $104,432 in income against $78,784 for the people moving in, and filers earning over $100,000 accounted for 90% of the income lost. Florida gained the most from Illinois ($2.4 billion), then Texas ($488 million). Over the long view, about $94 billion in income left with departing taxpayers between 2000 and 2023. Nevada's share is small but it is the destination that combines no income tax, no estate tax, a third of the property tax and a four-hour flight home.
The other side
Fairness matters here. Several headquarters moves involved only a few hundred jobs, and Boeing and Caterpillar still employ thousands in Illinois. The state has also gained headquarters: Kellogg's snack spin-off Kellanova chose Chicago in 2022, Dover moved from New York to Downers Grove in 2024, and PsiQuantum picked Chicago for its quantum-computing campus. The governor's office says Illinois leads the nation in corporate relocations, and much of the departure tracking comes from the Illinois Policy Institute and Wirepoints, which advocate for lower taxes. The IRS numbers, though, are the IRS numbers.
What it means for the people who stay
Company headquarters moves and resident migration have different causes; the data here do not prove one caused the other or establish a specific tax impact. For household decisions, review the tax and fee timeline, tax comparison and moving checklist.
Questions people search
Which big companies have left Illinois?
Since 2017: Caterpillar (Irving, TX), Boeing (Arlington, VA), Citadel and Citadel Securities (Miami), Tyson Foods (Springdale, AR), Beam Suntory (New York), Guggenheim Partners, Tenneco (Michigan), Great Lakes Dredge & Dock (Houston), Schumacher Electric (Fort Worth), TTX (Charlotte), Morton Salt (Overland Park, KS), PEAK6 (Austin) and True Value (Fort Wayne, IN). Stellantis idled its Belvidere plant, SC Johnson is moving 170 jobs to Wisconsin, and the Bears have advanced a stadium in Hammond, Indiana.
Is Caterpillar leaving Illinois?
It already did. Caterpillar moved its headquarters from Peoria to Deerfield in 2017 and then to Irving, Texas in 2022, after nearly a century in Illinois. About 230 corporate jobs moved; the company still employs thousands at Illinois plants.
Are the Bears leaving Illinois?
Not decided. In June 2026 the team's board voted to advance a stadium project in Hammond, Indiana. Nothing was final at the time of writing.
How much tax revenue has Illinois lost to people moving out?
IRS migration data shows a net $53.3 billion in adjusted gross income left Illinois with departing residents from 2017 through 2023 — about $2.6 billion in first-year state income tax at the 4.95% rate. Because each year's loss repeats every year those people stay gone, the cumulative figure is roughly $10 billion, before the sales and property taxes they would also have paid. From 2000 through 2023 the total is about $94 billion in income.
