Since we're rating the entire state, it's awful. Worse yet are the people. Too bad such a wonderful city like chicago is stuck with these people.

This state sucks! Everyone who lives there thinks they're from Chicago,which isn't something they should be bragging about. I would rather scoop out my eyeballs with a spoon than travel through the southern part of the state. Overall, Wisconsin dominates this hell-hole.

Reagan was born here other than that don't waste your time.

I think there are alot of good people in Illinois, it is mostly a state full of hardworking down to earth people. But the crime rate is just too high for me to ever want to live there !

Outside of Chicago, nothing really special here. For one, the dossier on Illinois provided by rateitall is wrong because Abe Lincoln was actually born in Kentucky. With that being said, there are a lot of crops, and open spaces. Not exactly a place for people looking for great views.

Chicago is the best big city in the US, so Illinois automatically ranks pretty high for me. My biggest complaint as a state comes from a road trip I took from Sacramento to Chicago. When we crossed the border on Hwy 80 from Iowa into Illinois, the road quality became markedly worse. Illinois has some of the worst roads in the nation, and it's a crime because Illinois LOVES their toll-roads. Take that money and pave the roads instead of lining some bureaucrat's pockets. Still, the greatness of Chicago outweighs the state's road problems for me. Wrigley Field, Soldier Field, Comiskey Park, The Field Museum, The Meuseum of Science and Industry, The Sears Tower, The Hancock Building, a thousand great restaurants, you name it it's there. Chicago residents are generally good, hard working people, and you'll notice how they don't riot like other large US cities do, which is notable becuase Chicago is easily as much of a "melting pot" as New York or Los Angeles.

It boasts being the "Land of Lincoln"...need I say more?

There isn't much outside of Chicago, but the Windy City is such a fun place that it deserves 4 stars.

I'm rating Illinois only as a place for travelers. Every year during the month of June, it is necessary for me to make a business trip to Indiana, and I go through southern Illinois on the way. And every year, as soon as I cross into the state, I see cops everywhere, pulling over travelers and giving them tickets. As supportive as I am of police officers, it seems they could spend their time better by going after violent criminals instead of pulling over out-of-staters for revenue. They've never stopped me, but I always see them going after people, and it makes me feel unwelcome as a traveler in Illinois. During my last trip, a few days ago, I decided to return home by way of a different route, traveling through southern Indiana on slow country roads, then abruptly going west into Missouri, before heading south to my home state of Arkansas. Illinois may have some good people, but I'll avoid their highways all I can.

I visited Chicago in the mid-seventies and saw the White Sox play at the Comiskey Park stadium. It is a special memory but it gave me a weird impression of Chicago. It was real windy and there was garbage literally flying around in the air all over the place. There was paper, plastic, tissue... going over my head, accross the ground and on every side of me! It was unreal. I'm not exaggerating. But even that is a special memory in a strange sort of way.

Chicago is so great...it doesn't belong here!