Best PlacesRockford, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Rockford, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Rockford ranks 7,372nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Rockford
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.
Rockford's strengths and weaknesses
Where Rockford ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 99% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 96% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 93% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 89% of towns
Where Rockford ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 16% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 20% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 22% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 27% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 28% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Rockford
A household needs to earn about $33,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rockford home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,271, 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 Rockford's effective rate of 1.05%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Rockford
Rockford's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Rockford.
Who works in Rockford, and how
Work in Rockford centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Rockford
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Rockford.
What the weather is like in Rockford, month by month
Rockford sees roughly 130 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 27, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27° | 19° | 12° |
| April | 58° | 46° | 37° |
| July | 82° | 72° | 64° |
| October | 61° | 50° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Rockford
The nearest airport, Mason City Municipal, is about 21 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 128 miles away.
The best schools in and around Rockford
Schools across Rockford average an A−, better than 87% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Jefferson Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- West Fork Elementary At RockwellA− · 62% proficient
- Rrmr Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Charles City MsA− · 55% proficient
- West Fork Middle SchoolA− · 55% proficient
- John Adams Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Rockford Junior-senior High SchoolA− · 67% proficient
- Mason City High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- West Fork High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rockford school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rockford 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 Rockford against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Rockford
Is Rockford a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rockford ranks 7,372nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on fast internet, civic engagement, and state finances, and lowest on tree cover and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Rockford expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $121,172. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $71,271 median income, cost of living beats 63% of towns.
Is Rockford safe?
Yes, Rockford is safer than 89% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $179 per resident a year.
Compare Rockford with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rockford. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rockford 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.
Rockford detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rockford: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rockford: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rockford: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rockford: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rockford 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.
- 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.