Best PlacesRockwood, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Rockwood, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Rockwood ranks 43,440th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Rockwood
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.
Rockwood's strengths and weaknesses
Where Rockwood ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 92% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 77% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 74% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 67% of towns
- Short commute24.8 minutes each way, better than 64% of towns
Where Rockwood ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 51 pleasant days a year, better than only 1% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 5% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 6% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Rockwood
A household needs to earn about $38,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rockwood home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $69,790, 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 Rockwood's effective rate of 1.17%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Rockwood
Rockwood runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Rockwood.
Who works in Rockwood, and how
Work in Rockwood centers on public administration and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Rockwood
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Rockwood.
What the weather is like in Rockwood, month by month
Rockwood sees roughly 51 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 33° | 25° |
| April | 69° | 56° | 45° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 73° | 59° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Rockwood
The nearest airport, Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois, is about 37 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 72 miles away.
The best schools in and around Rockwood
Schools across Rockwood average a D, better than 6% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Chester Elem SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
- Trico Elementary SchoolD− · 13% proficient
Top middle schools
- Trico Jr High SchoolD− · 18% proficient
Top high schools
- Trico Senior High SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Chester High SchoolF · 8% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rockwood school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rockwood 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 Rockwood against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Rockwood
Is Rockwood a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rockwood ranks 43,440th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, state infrastructure, and a stable housing market, and lowest on the weather and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Rockwood expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $138,647. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $69,790 median income, cost of living beats 48% of towns.
Is Rockwood safe?
Yes, Rockwood is safer than 57% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $222 per resident a year.
Compare Rockwood with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rockwood. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rockwood 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.
Rockwood detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rockwood: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rockwood: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rockwood: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rockwood: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rockwood 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.