Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plans to raise the cigarette tax by .75 cents a pack means Chicago will have the highest combined state and local tax rate in the nation at $7.42 a pack.
As a reminder that cigarette taxes aren't the only burden Chicagoans must bear as citizens of this fine city, here a partial list of some of the ways Chicago also leads the pack in highest taxes and other depressing statistics.
(Note: For those of you out there ready to jump on me as a “Chicago-hater”, please know I am also currently compiling a list of Chicago’s “best-ofs” for a future post.)
- One of the highest sale tax rates in the country
- Highest parking meter rates in the nation
- Highest gas prices in the country
- Worst rates of pension funding
- One of the most unpredictable commutes
- Highest murder rate (although, that’s often in dispute)
- Third highest rate of extreme poverty
- Third and fourth worst airports in the country for delays
- Highest number of gun seizures in the country
- Four of the worst 25 hospitals in the country
- Most surveillance cameras of any American city
- Nation’s worst highway interchange
- Third-worst bikini bods in America
- Top city in America for bedbugs
Of course, some people also think Chicago is the most corrupt city in America. But I’m not going to dignify that idea by even including it on this list.
