61102Rockford, Illinois

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 61102.

42out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 3% of 5,298 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity6173rd of 6,210 published ZIP areas11
Schools4403rd of 4,422 published ZIP areas6
Growth3609th of 5,428 published ZIP areas40
Housing affordabilityTop 34% of 6,685 published ZIP areas89
Climate5936th of 6,789 published ZIP areas59
Physical resilienceTop 45% of 6,709 published ZIP areas62
Access6236th of 6,791 published ZIP areas64
Economic stability6453rd of 6,742 published ZIP areas24
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published ZIP profiles: unemployment is 5.8% and the Opportunity signal places 61102 in the bottom 1%.

In the public schools here, 4% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 18.2 students for every teacher.

Rent takes 23% of median household income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 2.1 times that income.

At a glance

Population
15,937
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$46,599
Bottom 11% nationally
Density
467/sq mi
34.1 sq mi of land
Median age
38.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Rockford
Illinois
Metro area
Rockford, IL
Nearest major airport
MSN
64 mi · Dane County Rgnl/Truax Fld
Median home value
$98,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.8% is lower than 11% of the 6,544 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment fell 2.3% over the past year, to 59,742 employed residents.

Median household income of $46,599 is below 89% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$4,882$46,599Bottom 11%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,613$26,006Bottom 15%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate24.4%Top 12%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute24.3 minBottom 31%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher10.2%Bottom 13%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment59,742Top 47%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-4.4%Bottom 5%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-2.3%Bottom 14%June 2026
Labor force63,425Top 47%June 2026
Labor force participation53.4%Bottom 27%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$61,020Bottom 23%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$47,120Bottom 21%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.0%Bottom 47%June 2026
Unemployment rate5.8%Top 11%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202447k37k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $46,599 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

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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Rockford, IL, the city containing this ZIP code.

4% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 6% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 18.2 students for every full-time teacher, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
6
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
18.2
across all schools here
Math proficiency
4.1%
Bottom 1% in Illinois
Reading proficiency
5.8%
Bottom 1% in Illinois
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Rockford Envrnmntl Science AcadRockford SD 2051,10819.43%6%
Barbour Two-Way Lang ImmersionRockford SD 20562819.64%4%
Washington Elementary SchoolRockford SD 20552318.03%6%
Ellis Elementary SchoolRockford SD 20545713.16%6%
Julia Lathrop Elem SchoolRockford SD 20535717.05%5%
Legacy Acad of Excellence Charter · charterRockford SD 20523429.310%10%

77.0% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against Illinois’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $883 takes 23% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 2.1 times median household income here, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
22.7%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.1×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$883
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$98,900
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income2.12Bottom 19%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate64.4%Bottom 21%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±5097,064Top 22%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$82$883Bottom 35%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$16,393$98,900Bottom 10%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income22.7%Top 22%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate14.4%Top 39%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
40/ 100
Ranks 3609 of 5,428 published city profiles

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.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 1.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
143
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.0
Bottom 25% nationally
Year over year
+28%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Rockford, IL, the city containing this ZIP code.

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.

Air quality measures a median index of 43, in the Good band, and about 3 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

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, 4.3 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND5.2"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index59.02024 calendar year
Annual precipitation37.2"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall37.1"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low15°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high84°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 10032024 calendar year
Median air quality index43.02024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing52°F1991-2020 Normals
Air quality
Median air quality index
43
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
59
90th percentile index
Days above 100
3
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today. Air quality is measured rather than modelled, by EPA monitors, and published by county only where a monitor sits — roughly half the counties AreaProfile publishes have one, and the rest show nothing rather than an estimate. Air masses are regional, so a county reading describes the air over a place reasonably well, but it is still the county reading.

Physical risk

62 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and strong wind.

HailElevated
TornadoModerate
Strong windModerate
Inland floodingModerate

Low or minimal exposure: cold wave, lightning, ice storm, heat wave, earthquake, winter weather, drought, landslide, wildfire, hurricane.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Winnebago County records 4.3 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 12.8 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 20.3 per 100,000 residents in Winnebago County.

Homicide
4.3
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
12.8
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
20.3
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
13.9
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Winnebago County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around 61102 rather than 61102 itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 64 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Dane County Rgnl/Truax FldMSN64 mi9,006 ft
Chicago O'Hare IntlORD67 mi11,245 ft
Quad Cities IntlMLI88 mi10,002 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
42
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar yearAnnually, once a calendar year is complete

Profile recalculated August 30, 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 browse every source.

61102 vs Rockford

How this ZIP area compares with Rockford as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.

61102
Rockford
Median household income
$46,599
vs
$54,752
Per capita income
$26,006
vs
$31,263
Population density
467/sq mi
vs
2,259/sq mi
Median home value
$98,900
vs
$129,000
Median gross rent
$883
vs
$985
Homeownership rate
64.4%
vs
54.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher
10.2%
vs
23.5%
Poverty rate
24.4%
vs
21.3%
Median age
38.3
vs
37.7

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.