Windy City’s financial standing is heading south again, with few solutions in sight
Quick Summary
- Chicago is facing renewed financial strain, with three ratings firms downgrading its credit since January 2025.
CHICAGO — In 2022, the city of Chicago hit a milestone it had been targeting for seven years: It lifted a key credit rating out of junk status.
Pandemic-stimulus funds from the federal government and more-disciplined pension-fund contributions helped the city rise out of non-investment-grade status with Moody’s, to a level one notch above junk. Fitch, which had been holding Chicago in low investment-grade territory, also began issuing upgrades. Other agencies lifted the outlook on their investment-grade ratings from stable to positive.
Fast forward to today and Chicago is slipping back in the wrong direction.
Wall Street Journal
By Jeanne Whalen
Aug. 24, 2026