Best PlacesRock Island County, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Rock Island County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Rock Island County ranks 1,573rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on property taxes and state finances. It does better on transit, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in Rock Island County
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
The best areas in Rock Island County
The parts of Rock Island County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Milan & Taylor Ridge
Crime runs lower, local pay stretches further, and more residents vote.
Moline
Transit reaches more jobs and fewer homes sit empty.
Silvis
Fewer households have young kids.
East Moline & Port Byron
Streets are more car-dependent and fewer adults hold degrees.
Coal Valley
Health care is easier to reach, though tree cover is thinner.
Rock Island
Biking is better, though incomes run lower.
Scores across Rock Island County run from about the 2nd to the 82nd percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Rock Island County's strengths and weaknesses
Rock Island County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Transit is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Walkability and low disaster risk follow.
The one real hole is property taxes, near the bottom of the country. State finances and taxes also cost it ground. Cost swings more from one part of Rock Island County to another than it does between Rock Island County and its neighbors, which the map below shows.
Where Rock Island County ranks high
- TransitBetter than 99% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 92% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 91% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 91% of counties
- BikingBetter than 90% of counties
Where Rock Island County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of counties
- School gradeD, better than only 4% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 62 pleasant days a year, better than only 9% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Rock Island County
A household needs to earn about $48,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rock Island County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,161, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Rock Island County's effective rate of 2.12%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Rock Island County
Rock Island County's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Rock Island County.
Who works in Rock Island County, and how
Work in Rock Island County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Rock Island County
Rock Island County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 92% of counties and more parkland per resident than 92% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Rock Island County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Rock Island County growing, and who is moving in?
Rock Island County has lost about 3% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Davenport, IA metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Rock Island County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Rock Island County, month by month
Rock Island County sees roughly 62 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 25° | 16° |
| April | 66° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 88° | 76° | 65° |
| October | 69° | 55° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Rock Island County
The nearest airport, Quad Cities International, is about 3 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 138 miles away.
The best schools in and around Rock Island County
Schools across Rock Island County average a D, better than 4% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Mckinley Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Sherrard Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- C R Hanna Elem SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sudlow IntermediateA− · 54% proficient
- Orion Middle SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Erie Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Rockridge High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Orion High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Erie High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rock Island County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rock Island County measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Rock Island County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Rock Island County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 70% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 9% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Rock Island County
Is Rock Island County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rock Island County ranks 1,573rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on transit, walkability, and low disaster risk, and lowest on property taxes and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Rock Island County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $155,144. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $71,161 median income, cost of living beats 70% of counties.
Is Rock Island County safe?
Rock Island County is safer than 29% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $338 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Rock Island County?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 35 with lows near 16. That works out to about 62 pleasant days a year, more than 9% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Rock Island County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Milan & Taylor Ridge, Moline, and Silvis. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Rock Island County good for families?
Schools beat 4% of counties, crime safety beats 29%, and childcare runs $1,080 a month.
Is Rock Island County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 70% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 91% of counties. About 9% of workers already work from home.
Compare Rock Island County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rock Island County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rock Island County represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Rock Island County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rock Island County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rock Island County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rock Island County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rock Island County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rock Island County detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.