Data Viz of the Month

On this page, we will be featuring a different data visualization (viz) each month that emphasizes some piece of information regarding public finance in Illinois.

July 2019

The data viz for July shows results from a study of state highway productivity published by Dr. Arwi Kriz. The study created measures of highway spending productivity through examining the ratio of outputs like the percentage of roads in good or excellent condition and traffic flow rates to inputs of state highway capital outlays for new projects and for maintenance. The map shows how the measure of state highway productivity increased over time for 1998-2008. Illinois does not perform well in this study, the calculated productivity growth during that period was an annual average of -1.9%, compared to a national average of +6.2%. Neighboring states of Iowa and Indiana also did not perform well, while Wisconsin, Missouri and Kentucky all performed better.

June 2019

The data viz for this month gives a sense of how much debt Illinois has compared to other states. We use a figure of debt as a percentage of personal income to give a sense for how much burden the state’s debt creates for the citizens of the state. Data comes from the most recently published Comprehensive Annual Financial Report in each state.

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