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Public data at your fingertips

The Illinois Answers Project offers two easy-to-use databases of public information to bring greater clarity to how tax dollars are used.

Illinois Public Employee Salaries

Illinois Answers compiles the most comprehensive database to review, explore and compare compensation for public employees in Illinois.

Illinois Public Pensions

We collect data from the largest public pension systems in the state and centralize it into our Illinois Public Pensions Database.

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The Illinois Answers Project is an investigations and solutions-focused nonprofit and nonpartisan news organization published by the Better Government Association. Launched in November 2022, the Illinois Answers Project identifies problems and solutions to significant Chicago and Illinois problems. Learn more


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Solutions

Investigations

Chicago Rat Problem Map: Search Rat Complaints Across the City

An Illinois Answers Project and Block Club Chicago joint investigation found that Chicagoans made more than 214,000 complaints for rat abatement from 2019 through the end of 2022. Search the map below to find rat complaints across Chicago. How to use this searchable map This information reflects only what users submitted in their complaints to 311, but is not necessarily a statement of fact.

Fearless Reporting:
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Our newsroom recently won a Pulitzer Prize for investigative stories that exposed the failure of Chicago city officials to keep tenants safe from deadly fires. Help us demand solutions.

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