Best PlacesRockford, MI 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 498th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
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
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 96% of cities
- QuietBetter than 95% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 93% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 92% of cities
Where Rockford ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 10% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 11% of cities
- TransitBetter than only 13% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 15% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 16% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Rockford
A household needs to earn about $101,000 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 $115,165, 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 1.01%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. 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 close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Rockford
Rockford has more restaurants and bars per resident than 65% of cities and more parkland per resident than 80% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Rockford and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Rockford, month by month
Rockford sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 26° | 19° |
| April | 60° | 47° | 36° |
| July | 85° | 74° | 62° |
| October | 64° | 53° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Rockford
The nearest airport, Gerald R Ford International, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 120 miles away.
The best schools in and around Rockford
Schools across Rockford average a B+, better than 70% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Knapp Forest Elementary SchoolA · 69% proficient
- Rockford Spanish ImmersionA · 67% proficient
- Valley View Elementary SchoolA− · 59% proficient
Top middle schools
- Eastern Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
- North Rockford Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
- East Rockford Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Eastern High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- Rockford High SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Cedar Springs High SchoolB− · 43% 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 2,097 cities.
Who Rockford suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 80% of cities and 20% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Rockford
Is Rockford a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rockford ranks 498th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on civic engagement, low crime, and quiet, and lowest on car insurance costs and cell coverage. 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 $376,555. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $115,165 median income, cost of living beats 80% of cities.
Is Rockford safe?
Yes, Rockford is safer than 96% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $191 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Rockford?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 34 with lows near 19. That works out to about 68 pleasant days a year, more than 22% of cities.
Is Rockford good for families?
Schools beat 70% of cities, crime safety beats 96%, and childcare runs $776 a month.
Compare Rockford with other cities
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.