Rockford

Population & Demographics

Rockford, IL

Rockford is home to 147,521 people. Explore its demographics, housing, and economy — plus how its 61,757 resident workers commute each day.

IllinoisCensus ACS 5-Year · LODES 2023
147,521
people
Population

147,521 residents

Median age 37.7 · U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year (2024).

Rockford population & demographics

Who lives in Rockford — population, age, housing, and income, from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Population
147,521
Median age
37.7yrs
Median household income
$54,752
Median home value
$129,000
Median gross rent
$985/mo
Bachelor’s degree or higher
23.5%
Poverty rate
21.3%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 2024 5-Year Estimates. Values shown as “—” are suppressed or unavailable for this place.

Race & ethnicity in Rockford

How Rockford breaks down by race and ethnicity — each bar is that group’s share of the population, from the U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year (2024).

White49.6%
Hispanic or Latino21.6%
Black19.2%
Two or more races5.5%
Asian3.7%
Some other race0.3%
American Indian / Alaska Native0.2%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander0.0%

Race across Rockford

Each dot is a group of people, placed in their 2020 Census block and colored by race or ethnicity — the pattern shows where groups live across Rockford.

Rockford at a glance
Employed Residents
61,757
Fewer than the city’s total population
Median home–work distance
17.2mi
Straight-line, not road distance
Work Locally
45.3%
Share working within the area
Work from home
10.1%
Residents who work from home (ACS)
Top destination outside city
Loves Park
Excludes local — most work in-city

These figures are for Rockford proper — the Census place within its city limits — not the surrounding metro area. Metro-wide totals you’ll see elsewhere are larger because they bundle in neighboring cities and suburbs.

How Rockford commutes

Every dot is a worker moving between home and job. Trace where the area pulls people in from — and where its residents head each day.

67
Commute Score

67 / 100

How short the typical commute is here, on an absolute 0–100 scale (higher is shorter). How it’s calculated.

Rockford

61,757 commutes, one dot at a time

Rockford

Where 61,757 workers commute

Each dot ≈ 75 workers

Where residents work

Top destinations for people who live in Rockford, by worker count.

1Rockford0.0 mi27,958
2Loves Park4.8 mi3,508
3Chicago76.8 mi3,497
4Belvidere11.5 mi1,705
5Machesney Park6.2 mi1,322
6Beloit17.2 mi720
7Cherry Valley5.9 mi626
8South Beloit14.9 mi480

Who commutes in

Top origin places for workers who travel into Rockford.

1Rockford0.0 mi27,958
2Loves Park4.8 mi4,308
3Machesney Park6.2 mi3,750
4Chicago76.8 mi2,744
5Belvidere11.5 mi2,054
6Roscoe10.7 mi1,616
7Rockton12.6 mi914
8South Beloit14.9 mi712

Top industries

The sectors that employ Rockford’s workforce. Each bar is scaled to that sector’s share of all local jobs — the top sectors shown don’t add up to 100%.

Bar length = each sector’s share of all local jobs (0–100%)
HCHealth Care and Social Assistance25.2%
MFManufacturing13.0%
RTRetail Trade9.4%
AFAccommodation and Food Services8.1%
ADAdministrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services8.0%
TRTransportation and Warehousing6.6%
EDEducational Services6.3%
WSWholesale Trade3.8%
PAPublic Administration3.4%
Connectivity

Internet options for Rockford

The biggest home-internet providers in the area — tap any to compare local plans.

10 providers · 1 with fiber
Speed availabilityshare of homes a plan reaches
1 Gbps~all homes
2 Gbps99%
5 Gbps39%
8 Gbps23%
See all internet providers in Rockford

FindBetterInternet is a CensusFlow partner site — we link out so you can compare local plans, and CensusFlow’s Census data stays independent. Provider data is from the FCC National Broadband Map (satellite + fixed wireless excluded).