I’ve mentioned this here before, but I follow a financial podcaster out of Chicago whose GF is a real estate agent. He’s said, for the last month/month-and-a-half-or-so, that all of her clients have been asking her to get them the hell out of Chicago, and (having endured the Covid lockdowns) to find them a place with a yard, or at least a porch. (Basically “NOT A HIGHRISE!”.) With an unspoken understanding of “whatever the price”.
He also recently said he understands that Catholic schools in Wisconsin and Indiana are currently deluged with last-minute applications from Illinois.
What’s really telling is the high number of people who work in Chicago and live in Gary Indiana. From what I understand, Gary is a one hour train ride to Chicago. You can have basically the same commute in the Chicago area with a lot more taxes and hassle.