Boone County, IL

County Profile

53,230 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Boone County, IL.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

57out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 42% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
Opportunity737th of 1,463 counties measured55
Schools1,172nd of 1,377 counties measured22
Growth1,144th of 1,453 counties measured34
Housing affordabilityTop 26% of 1,462 counties measured79
Climate1,188th of 1,463 counties measured59
Physical resilienceTop 24% of 1,463 counties measured77
Access1,038th of 1,463 counties measured70
Economic stabilityTop 23% of 1,463 counties measured78
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.2% and median household income $84,571, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

In the public schools here, 22% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 13.5 students for every teacher.

Rent takes 27% of renter income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 2.3 times what its owners earn.

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
53,230
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$84,571
Top 13% nationally
Density
190/sq mi
280.7 sq mi of land
Median age
39.7
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Boone County
Illinois
Metro area
Nearest major airport
ORD
53 mi · Chicago O'Hare Intl
Median home value
$216,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.2% — higher than in all but 47% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 0.1% over the past year, to 24,852 employed residents.

Median household income of $84,571 is higher than in 87% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$67,45969th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$69,97577th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$4,4412024 ACS 5-Year$84,571Top 13%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,4222024 ACS 5-Year$39,818Top 26%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$57,480Top 45%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year10.1%Top 28%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.2 min2024 ACS 5-Year28.3 minBottom 32%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year23.6%Top 44%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year78.8%58th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202624,852Bottom 39%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−2.7%Bottom 18%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+0.1%Top 37%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202625,93939th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year80.2%Top 26%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year0.3%57th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−1.1%Top 9%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.2%Bottom 47%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year9.6%59th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/079.34.2
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.2% 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

202120222023202485k74k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $84,571 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.

22% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 28% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.5 students for every full-time teacher across 16 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
17
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.5
across 16 of them
Math proficiency
21.9%
Bottom 9% in Illinois
Reading proficiency
28.3%
Bottom 11% in Illinois
The 12 largest of 17 public schools, by enrollment.
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%
North Boone High SchoolNorth Boone CUSD 20049614.627%32%
Caledonia Elem SchoolBelvidere CUSD 10044913.622%32%
Perry Elem SchoolBelvidere CUSD 10028420.317%27%
Poplar Grove Elem SchoolNorth Boone CUSD 20025113.242%47%

53.4% 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 $4,735 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 13% above the $1,041 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 56% of the median household income here of $84,571.

The typical renter household here spends 27% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,041 a month.

A median home at $216,900 costs 2.3 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $96,236, 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
27.2%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.3×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,175
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,041
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$216,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Boone County’s median household income of $84,571, 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 21%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Rockford, IL Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+8.1%97th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Rockford, IL Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+63.8%99th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Rockford, IL Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+112.2%80th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year2.3Top 36%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year81.8%88th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±312024 ACS 5-Year20,29165th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$895Top 42%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,555Bottom 49%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,175Top 49%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$692024 ACS 5-Year$1,041Bottom 27%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$9,7362024 ACS 5-Year$216,90062nd percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$2272024 ACS 5-Year$4,73596th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$5,0172024 ACS 5-Year$96,236Top 17%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.14%2024 ACS 5-Year2.18%98th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±6%2024 ACS 5-Year27.2%Top 44%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±802024 ACS 5-Year9919th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.5%12th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year3.6%5th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2732024 ACS 5-Year83125th percentileof 3,2222024 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

34/ 100
Ranks 1,144 of 1,453 published county 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 53,313 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 66 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 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 counties.

Units permitted
66
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.2
Bottom 23% nationally
Year over year
+18%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202453k53k
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. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

202220232024202512928
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−48%).

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, 16.3 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

77 / 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.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 76% of measured US counties.

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). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

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.

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 Boone County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read 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.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
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 53 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year91.2%Top 18%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle53 miBottom 28%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 35%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year5.2%Top 12%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Chicago O'Hare IntlORD53 mi11,245 ft
Dane County Rgnl/Truax FldMSN62 mi9,006 ft
Gary/Chicago IntlGYY87 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
57
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
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
Housing, IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
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.

Cities in Boone County, IL

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.