Illinois Number One!

We hadn't heard of this survey before:

• Americans have spoken out about which states they love to hate. 

  A ranking has named Illinois the most disliked state in the nation, with 25 percent of its own residents saying it is the worst place to live.

  New Jersey landed in the number two spot, reinforcing its long-standing reputation as a frequent target of jokes across the country.

  New York followed closely behind, with a significant portion of residents admitting they believe their own state ranks among the worst. 

  The World Population Review analyzed three key factors to determine which states inspire the strongest negative feelings: how many residents said their own state was the worst place to live, whether population numbers were shrinking and how frequently other states named them as their most disliked neighbor.

This isn't a US media source, but a United Kingdom paper. 

But the population decrease is a dead-on indicator.