State report · National rank #39 of 50
Illinois
Illinois can feed a large survivor population, but Chicago dominates its zombie risk. The state has exceptional farmland, freshwater from Lake Michigan and major rivers, extensive roads and rail, strong hospitals, and major energy and industrial capacity. The catch is more than 12 million residents, extreme first-wave pressure around Chicago, flat and exposed terrain across much of the state, severe weather, and evacuation routes that would carry urban danger directly into rural farming communities.
Personal assessment
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Illinois scored three times
A state that handles shamblers can get erased by sprinters. Here is how Illinois performs under each outbreak model.
Slow zombies reward distance, local food, water, defensive terrain and the luxury of time. Illinois begins with about 12,719,141 people, but its real advantage is the resource-to-population ratio once you leave the main cities. USDA lists 26.1 million acres across 69,600 farm operations.
Fast zombies turn transportation into a timing problem. A six-lane highway is useful until six lanes stop moving. Chicago scores 2 out of 10 on metro exposure, and the flat terrain across most of the state means there is nothing to break up movement once the corridors jam.
Yes, we know they're not technically zombies. This is about keeping a settlement alive for years. Illinois is one of America's great food engines — perfect 10s in agriculture, food self-sufficiency, survival resources, medicine and logistics all at once.
What helps
- Mostly open prairie and farmland, with river bluffs, forests and hillier terrain in the south
- Lake Michigan, Mississippi, Illinois, Ohio and Wabash river systems plus groundwater and reservoirs
- 26.1 million acres in farm operations across 69,600 farms
- 980,000 cattle and calves
- 5.45 million hogs, 1.663 billion pounds of milk, plus enormous corn and soybean production in 2025
- 46,279 MW of net summer capacity in 2024, with one of the nation's largest nuclear generation fleets
- Scott Air Force Base, Naval Station Great Lakes, Rock Island Arsenal and Illinois National Guard forces
What hurts
- Chicago metro exposure, scoring 2 out of 10
- Flat terrain across most of the state, with a 4 on defensive geography
- Tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, flooding, winter storms, heat and occasional drought
- Major transport corridors become liabilities when everyone moves at once
Personal assessment
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Illinois's zombie superpowers
Mostly open prairie and farmland, with river bluffs, forests and hillier terrain in the south, define how infected move, where people can hide, and which roads become mandatory. The best refuge is not simply the remotest place — it is where terrain plus water plus food plus energy plus access overlap.
1 · Food production
Illinois is one of America's great food engines: 26.1 million farm acres, millions of hogs and huge corn and soybean output.
2 · Freshwater
Lake Michigan and the state's major rivers provide extraordinary water access.
3 · Energy
Illinois starts with a very large electric system and one of the nation's largest nuclear generation fleets.
4 · Logistics
Before systems fail, few states move food, fuel and freight better — a perfect 10.
The catch
Chicago, and nothing to hide behind
Chicago
The metro is simply too large to ignore in a fast outbreak, and it scores 2 out of 10.
Flatness
Much of Illinois offers visibility but little natural defensive terrain.
River flooding
Some of the best agricultural areas are also places where the river occasionally reminds you who owns the floodplain.
The framework
25 survival factors, scored 1–10
Every state is measured on the same 25 factors. Weighting shifts by scenario — terrain matters more against sprinters, agriculture matters more in a long collapse.
Tactics
What works, by scenario
| Strategy | Walking Dead | World War Z | Last of Us |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rural farm or ranch with independent water | Excellent | Very good if reached early | Excellent |
| Small agricultural town | Very good | Good | Excellent |
| Remote site with no food system | Good early | Very good for isolation | Poor long-term |
| Major highway evacuation | Good early, bad late | Terrible late | Poor after collapse |
| Major metro shelter | Poor | Terrible | Poor |
| Distributed renewable power | Very good | Good | Excellent |
| Hunting and fishing supplement | Very good | Good | Very good |
| One-road refuge | Risky | Risky | Risky |
Geography
Where to be
Southern Illinois / Shawnee region
Forests, hills, water and lower population make this the state's best balance.
- The only real terrain in the state
- Shawnee forest cover
- Ohio River water access
- Far from the Chicago corridor
Rural western Illinois
Agriculture and river access with distance from Chicago.
Northwest rural counties away from the Rockford corridor
Strong farms and smaller towns, but less terrain than the south.
Where not to be
Chicago metro
Population density and freeway congestion dominate everything.
Major river crossings during evacuation
A bridge is a chokepoint with a maintenance schedule.
The open suburban fringe
Too many people, too little terrain.
Verdict
72 out of 100 · Grade C− · Rank #39
Illinois can feed a large survivor population, but Chicago dominates its zombie risk. The state has exceptional farmland, freshwater from Lake Michigan and major rivers, extensive roads and rail, strong hospitals, and major energy and industrial capacity. The catch is more than 12 million residents, extreme first-wave pressure around Chicago, flat and exposed terrain across much of the state, severe weather, and evacuation routes that would carry urban danger directly into rural farming communities.
Walking Dead 80. World War Z 58. Last of Us 78.
Method & sources
Where the numbers come from
The Zombie Survival Index is a fictional entertainment ranking that uses real public data as its inputs. Every state is scored on the same 25 factors under three outbreak models, and the overall number blends those results. All fifty states have been assessed and normalised against the same national scoring set.
- U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Population Estimates and QuickFacts
- USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, 2025 State Agriculture Overview
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, State Electricity Profile
- State water-resource and environmental agencies
- State emergency-management agencies
- U.S. Department of Defense and National Guard installation sources
- State wildlife, hunting and fishing agencies
- NOAA and state climatology and hazard sources