City profile · Minnesota · Census ACS 2023

Rockford, MN

Rockford's Census ACS profile: residents, income, housing, and the joined public-record layers available for this place.

4,521
Residents
$82,228
Median income
$265,900
Median home
$1,125
Median rent (state)
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State rank, size-class rank, and four peer cities for Rockford.

Place dossier plate

Sheet MN-ROCKFORD-MN · Rockford, MN 4,521 pop · income 64th pct

POP-VILLAGE · INC-HIGH · COL-PAR · SAFE-UNK · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · HOME-MID · BOOK-UNK

  • POP-VILLAGE 4,521
  • INC-HIGH $82,228
  • COL-PAR 98.6
  • SAFE-UNK Safety pending
  • RANK-UPPER 64th
  • PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Glendale Heights
  • HOME-MID $265,900
  • BOOK-UNK Tracts pending

Nearest income peer: Glendale Heights, IL (+ $4 income $)

Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.

Income neighbourhood around Rockford

Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Rockford on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.

median HH income

What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.

Source U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 5-Year Estimates As of 2026-08-08

Compare beyond this state

Nationwide peers by population, income

Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Rockford on ACS population and median household income . Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.

Similar population

Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 4,521.

4 peers

Similar household income

Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS median household income. This city: $82,228. Population peers are excluded.

4 peers

Rockford - the verdict

Nationally, Rockford sits in the 64th percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.

64th
percentile, household income
59th
percentile, home value
36th
percentile, median rent
📝 How we sourced this

Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.

Data Snapshot: Rockford, MN

4,521 people live in Rockford, Minnesota - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Rockford brings in $82,228 a year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 2.4%. Home values in Rockford run a median of $265,900, and the median resident age is 42.7 years. 41.6% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 70.5% of working-age residents are in the labor force.

Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 29 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Building Boom), up 53% from five years earlier.

Minnesota tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Minnesota scores 98.6 (Near Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,125 per month statewide. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Minnesota's average monthly utility costs around $225 (state average). The average commute for Rockford workers runs 25.9 minutes, with 79.5% driving alone and 12.0% working from home. Natural-hazard exposure scores 42.4 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Low).

A decision-led reading path

Useful questions to ask of Rockford's data

How this reading path is ordered

This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from work and mobility to population change to schools and households to comparison shortlist to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.

For Rockford, city-specific coverage includes local building permits, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count, annual population history. No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.

1. Work and mobility

What does the journey to work look like in Rockford?

Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.

Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 79.5%. The reported mean trip to work is 25.9 minutes.

Compare commute patterns →

2. Population change

Is Rockford growing, shrinking, or holding steady?

Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.

Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +341 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +7.6% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 29 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.

See the national growth ranking →

Question 3

What does the education layer cover for Rockford?

The NCES join finds 3 public schools within the city match. 41.6% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.

The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.

See how the family ranking is built →

Question 4

Which cities make useful reference points for Rockford?

Within Minnesota, the closest population matches are Nowthen (4,539 residents, $134,491 income); Newport (4,460 residents, $63,365 income); Sauk Centre (4,589 residents, $65,763 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Guerneville, CA (4,522 residents); Hartwell, GA (4,523 residents); California, MO (4,523 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.

Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching.

Open a side-by-side comparison →

Other supported questions

Why these stay compact

These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.

Housing and income

How far does income reach against housing in Rockford?

The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.2 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 2.4%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.

This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.

Household income
$82,228
Home value
$265,900
Value / income
3.2×

City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.

Compare the housing trade-off →

Population

4,521 residents

Micro place (under 10k)

Median Household Income

$82,228 /yr

Above median income · poverty 2.4% (Low poverty)

Cost of Living Index (state)

98.6 (US=100)

Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Minnesota average

City profile score · Rockford, MN

66/100

4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023

Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians (income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out and redistribute weight. How it is calculated.

Poverty rate A-
2.4%

Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.

Bachelor's+ share B+
41.6%

Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.

Household income C+
$82,228

Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.

Cost of living D
98.6 index

BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.

Violent crime N/A
N/A

No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).

Rockford profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions) 4-axis radar comparing 1 series across Poverty rate, Bachelor's+ share, Household income, Cost of living. Poverty rateBachelor's+ shareHousehold incomeCost of living 66 B-
Rockford profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)
Read the chart values
  • Poverty rate: 83/100 (A-) · 2.4%
  • Bachelor's+ share: 76/100 (B+) · 41.6%
  • Household income: 62/100 (C+) · $82,228
  • Cost of living: 46/100 (D) · 98.6 index

How does Rockford compare to other US cities?

Where Rockford sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.

Household income 64% higher than other cities
Home value 59% pricier than other cities
Median rent 36% pricier than other cities

"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.

How we calculate these percentiles & ranks

Each percentile compares Rockford against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Minnesota only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.

Minnesota-relative analysis

Median Gross Rent places Rockford near the bottom of Minnesota's cities

Among the 785 Minnesota cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Rockford ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Rockford only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.

Median Household Income
#243 of 775
69th percentile in Minnesota
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 785
0th percentile in Minnesota
Median Home Value
#192 of 774
75th percentile in Minnesota
Poverty Rate
#580 of 785
25th percentile in Minnesota
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#97 of 784
88th percentile in Minnesota
How in-state ranks are ordered

Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Minnesota only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.

64thIncome percentile
Gauge source note

64th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.

How Rockford's home value compares nationally

Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)

$265,900 41st percentile more affordable than 41% of 15,600 US cities

Show national distribution $0–$25,000: 5 US cities (0%). Below this entry. $25,000–$50,000: 54 US cities (0%). Below this entry. $50,000–$75,000: 352 US cities (2%). Below this entry. $75,000–$100,000: 1,086 US cities (7%). Below this entry. $100,000–$125,000: 1,516 US cities (10%). Below this entry. $125,000–$150,000: 1,170 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $150,000–$175,000: 1,278 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $175,000–$200,000: 1,229 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $200,000–$225,000: 1,035 US cities (7%). Below this entry. $225,000–$250,000: 976 US cities (6%). Below this entry. $250,000–$275,000: 754 US cities (5%). This entry sits in this band. $275,000–$300,000: 712 US cities (5%). Above this entry. $300,000–$325,000: 521 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $325,000–$350,000: 526 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $350,000–$375,000: 465 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $375,000–$400,000: 393 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $400,000–$425,000: 317 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $425,000–$450,000: 300 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $450,000–$475,000: 307 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $475,000–$500,000: 250 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $500,000–$525,000: 160 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $525,000–$550,000: 156 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $550,000–$575,000: 172 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $575,000–$600,000: 172 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $600,000–$625,000: 163 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $625,000–$650,000: 167 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $650,000–$675,000: 135 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $675,000–$700,000: 101 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $700,000–$725,000: 95 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $725,000–$750,000: 71 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $750,000–$775,000: 65 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $775,000–$800,000: 70 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $800,000–$825,000: 57 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $825,000–$850,000: 67 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $850,000–$875,000: 60 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $875,000–$900,000: 58 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $900,000–$925,000: 47 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $925,000–$950,000: 37 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $950,000–$975,000: 31 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $975,000–$1,000,000: 470 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $1,000,000–$1,025,000: 0 US cities (0%). Above this entry. Rockford $0 $1,025,000 every US city, bucketed by value

Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023

Rockford's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.2×

ACS median home value divided by median household income.

Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#7,847 of 15,516
More affordable than 49% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#6,460 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)

At 3.2×, Rockford sits in the moderate band: national rank #7,847 of 15,516 and #6,460 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000). Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.

How this ratio is calculated

Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000. Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0). This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.

Income distribution context

$82,228 Rockford, MN median household income (Census ACS)

Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Household income distribution - Rockford, MN Rockford, MN's median household income ($82,228) against the U.S. national quintile-share pattern. The Lorenz curve and quintile bars are national context, not Rockford, MN-specific shares. $ Household Income Distribution Rockford, MN median $82,228/yr, vs. U.S. national quintile pattern QUINTILE SHARE OF AGGREGATE INCOME Lowest 20% 3.4% Second 20% 9.2% Middle 20% 15.1% Fourth 20% 23.2% Top 20% 49.1% LORENZ CURVE cumulative income vs. population 100% 0% 100% pop. 0%
Rockford, MN median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Rockford, MN.

Key socioeconomic indicators

Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+) 41.6%

Census ACS S1501, educational attainment

Poverty rate (households below FPL) 2.4%

Census ACS S1701, poverty status

Labor force participation (adults 16+) 70.5%

Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force

Population
4,521
Median Income
$82,228
Median Home Value
$265,900
Median Age
42.7
Poverty Rate
2.4%
Labor force participation
70.5%
Bachelor's Degree+
41.6%

Schools

Total Schools
3
Public schools in this city

Population Change

PEP vintage

Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025

See the fastest-growing cities →
4,400 residents4,600 residents4,800 residents5,000 residents 202020212022202320242025 4,486 residents 4,827 residents ▲ +7.6%
Rockford's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.
Read the chart as text
Period Population
2020 4,486 residents
2021 4,577 residents
2022 4,647 residents
2023 4,711 residents
2024 4,761 residents
2025 4,827 residents

Housing Supply

BPS source

Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized

📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
29
housing units authorized
Single-Family
27
detached homes
Multifamily
2
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
6.4
permits per 1,000 residents

5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)

Year Total
2019 19
2020 44
2021 46
2022 35
2023 20
2024 29

Permit volume increased 53% from 2019 to 2024.

Commute Patterns

Commute source

How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023

Average Commute Time
25.9 minutes
Drive Alone
79.5%
Carpool
8.5%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
12.0%

Based on 2,682 workers 16 and over.

Monthly Utility Costs

Minnesota statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $225

EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Minnesota at $225 (electricity about $95 , water and sewer about $45 ).

These are Minnesota statewide averages, not a meter reading for Rockford. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.

Living Costs & Risk

Minnesota's BEA cost-of-living index is 98.6 (Near Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Rockford is $1,125/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Minnesota statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 42.4 / 100 (Low).

Cost/risk geography note

Cost of living is a Minnesota statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Rockford sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.

How Rockford compares to similar-size Minnesota cities

Same-state peer method

Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.

City Population Median Household Income
Rockford (this city) 4,521 $82,228
Nowthen 4,539 $134,491
Newport 4,460 $63,365
Sauk Centre 4,589 $65,763
NCES CCD Census BPS 2024
Primary sources on this page

Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Citation & verification links Data sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCities

Primary sources: Census ACS, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES. Joins use OMB Bulletin 23-01 / FIPS keys.

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Estimate caveats

ACS and UCR figures are citywide estimates with vintage lags; they do not replace a local visit, school visit, or insurance quote.

Editorial standards, provenance, and how to cite this page

Every figure on PlainCities is rendered directly from Census ACS source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on Census ACS source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

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