Belvidere, Illinois

Area Profile

24,752 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Belvidere, in Boone County.

54out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 32% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 15 sources
Opportunity3,240th of 4,199 cities measured43
Schools3,033rd of 4,162 cities measured32
Growth3,522nd of 4,224 cities measured32
Housing affordabilityTop 18% of 4,218 cities measured78
Climate3,709th of 4,225 cities measured59
Physical resilienceTop 32% of 4,226 cities measured74
Access3,789th of 4,226 cities measured69
Economic stability2,747th of 4,226 cities measured49
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable cities measured: unemployment is 4.4% and the Opportunity signal places Belvidere in the bottom 23%.

In the public schools here, 21% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 13.5 students for every teacher.

30 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, essentially level with the prior year — steady rather than turning.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
24,752
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$64,528
Bottom 47% nationally
Density
1,955/sq mi
12.7 sq mi of land
Median age
38.7
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Illinois
Metro area
Nearest major airport
ORD
54 mi · Chicago O'Hare Intl
Median home value
$158,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.4% — higher than in all but 47% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment grew 0.1% over the past year, to 12,269 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsBoone County, IL’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$67,45942nd percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftBoone County, IL’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$69,97545th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$8,5212024 ACS 5-Year$64,528Bottom 47%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,6192024 ACS 5-Year$32,460Bottom 46%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year14.9%Bottom 35%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.8 min2024 ACS 5-Year26.5 minTop 49%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year12.8%Bottom 28%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year79.1%56th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202612,269Bottom 6%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−2.8%Bottom 15%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+0.1%Top 33%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202612,8286th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year79.2%Top 47%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageRockford, IL Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$61,020Bottom 18%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageRockford, IL Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$47,120Bottom 17%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−1.2%Top 9%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.4%Bottom 47%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year7.7%50th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/07114.4
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.4% in July 2026. It has been falling, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202465k58k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $64,528 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — Rockford, IL

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand5,940$44,200
Registered Nurses4,620$80,930
Fast Food and Counter Workers3,630$31,640
Cashiers3,620$31,680
General and Operations Managers3,340$98,390
Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators3,130$45,670

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

21% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 27% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.5 students for every full-time teacher across 9 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
10
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.5
across 9 of them
Math proficiency
21.0%
Bottom 19% in Illinois
Reading proficiency
27.0%
Bottom 22% in Illinois
All 10 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Belvidere North High SchBelvidere CUSD 1001,35414.330%36%
Belvidere High SchoolBelvidere CUSD 1001,16713.419%19%
Belvidere Central Middle SchoolBelvidere CUSD 10091112.325%37%
Belvidere South Middle SchoolBelvidere CUSD 10075410.615%26%
Washington AcademyBelvidere CUSD 10072112.413%20%
Meehan Elementary SchoolBelvidere CUSD 10068816.017%17%
Seth Whitman Elem SchBelvidere CUSD 10062214.825%37%
Lincoln Elem SchoolBelvidere CUSD 10057314.018%18%
Perry Elem SchoolBelvidere CUSD 10028420.317%27%
Everest High SchoolBelvidere CUSD 1000———

55.8% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Illinois’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 10% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 90.2, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Rockford, IL Metro Area is up 64% over five years, and up 8.1% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $3,466 a year in real estate taxes, about 2.18% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,175, some 19% above the $991 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,175 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $47,000 a year, about 73% of the median household income here of $64,528.

The typical renter household here spends 28% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $991 a month.

A median home at $158,900 costs 2.1 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $77,314, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
90.2

Prices here run about 10% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Rockford, IL Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
27.7%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.1×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,175
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$991
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$158,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Belvidere’s median household income of $64,528, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Rockford, IL Metro Area’s figure202390.2Top 7%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Rockford, IL Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+8.1%98th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Rockford, IL Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+63.8%98th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Rockford, IL Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+112.2%80th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year2.1Top 35%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year70.9%39th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±3532024 ACS 5-Year9,99494th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$895Top 14%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,555Top 21%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,175Top 19%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$682024 ACS 5-Year$991Bottom 48%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$12,3602024 ACS 5-Year$158,90041st percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1802024 ACS 5-Year$3,46678th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$9,0002024 ACS 5-Year$77,314Bottom 48%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.20%2024 ACS 5-Year2.18%95th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±7%2024 ACS 5-Year27.7%Top 47%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±242024 ACS 5-Year01st percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year4.1%33rd percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2132024 ACS 5-Year40587th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

32/ 100
Ranks 3,522 of 4,224 published city profiles
Permitting has been rising for the last 2 years of a series running from 2022 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has been broadly flat since 2020, at 25,325 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 30 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Boone County, which contains Belvidere, in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $67,459, close to the $69,975 of households that moved out.

At 1.2 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
30
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.2
Bottom 29% nationally
Year over year
0%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202425k25k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
0.0%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
21%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$67,459
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$69,975
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Winnebago County, IL 849 people · 32% of arrivals
  2. Kane County, IL 340 people · 13% of arrivals
  3. McHenry County, IL 273 people · 10% of arrivals
  4. Cook County, IL 263 people · 9.8% of arrivals
  5. DuPage County, IL 106 people · 4.0% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Winnebago County, IL 1,068 people · 40% of departures
  2. Cook County, IL 164 people · 6.1% of departures
  3. McHenry County, IL 143 people · 5.4% of departures
  4. Kane County, IL 96 people · 3.6% of departures
  5. Rock County, WI 73 people · 2.7% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. This is the figure for Boone County, IL. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20222023202420251038.0
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−64%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 84°F and January a low of 15°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 37.2 inches, including 37.1 inches of snow.

0°20°40°60°80°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station ROCKFORD GTR ROCKFORD AP, 11.6 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.2"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals37.2"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals37.1"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals15°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals84°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals52°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

74 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and cold wave, with inland flooding alone responsible for 53% of it. Cold wave is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

HailElevated
TornadoModerate
LightningModerate
Inland floodingModerate
Strong windModerate

Low or minimal exposure: cold wave, drought, heat wave, earthquake, winter weather, ice storm, landslide, hurricane, wildfire, avalanche, coastal flooding, tsunami, volcanic activity.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Violent crime
138
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
478
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Belvidere's police department reported 138 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 478.

Boone County records 0.0 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 9.2 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at about 12.1 per 100,000 residents in Boone County.

Homicide
0.0
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
9.2
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
12.1
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
14.3
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Belvidere’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around Belvidere (Boone County) rather than Belvidere itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Chicago O'Hare Intl at 54 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year89.2%Bottom 47%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle54 miBottom 11%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 20%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year5.1%Top 37%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Chicago O'Hare IntlORD54 mi11,245 ft
Dane County Rgnl/Truax FldMSN65 mi9,006 ft
Gary/Chicago IntlGYY88 mi8,859 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
54
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Other cities in Rockford, IL

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
RockfordWinnebago County147,52148Rockford vs Belvidere
Loves ParkWinnebago County23,50256Loves Park vs Belvidere
Machesney ParkWinnebago County22,63057Machesney Park vs Belvidere
RoscoeWinnebago County10,70664

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Belvidere side by side with a similar place.

Belvidere vs BurlingtonBelvidere vs Albert Lea

Moving to Belvidere from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

ZIP codes in Belvidere

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Belvidere with census figures of its own, largest first.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
6100833,582$76,604$195,80056