Living in Rock Island, IL
Small city in Illinois
Rock Island is a small city in Illinois, home to about 37,000 people, with 369,000 living within 31 mi. Day to day, much of daily life is walkable. Life moves at a relaxed pace, and homes are a mix of apartments and houses.
Is Rock Island a good place to live? Pros and cons
👍 Pros
- Affordable housing: a typical 3-bedroom home is about $154k and rents for $1,500 a month
- Mild summers: highs around 85°F
- Low natural disaster risk: 5 federally declared disasters since 2000
👎 Cons
- Smaller job market: about 369,000 people live within 31 mi
- Fewer graduates: 22% of adults have a bachelor's degree or higher
- Weaker public schools: test results well below the US average
- Higher taxes: about $2,002 state income tax per resident, 2.42% property tax
Whether it's a good place for you depends on what you value. Take the quiz to see how Rock Island ranks against your own priorities.
Key facts
Living in Rock Island: common questions
What is the cost of living in Rock Island?
A typical 3-bedroom home is worth about $154k, and a 3-bedroom rents for about $1,500 a month including utilities. Overall living costs are below the US average (index 89, where the US is 100).
What are taxes like in Rock Island?
Illinois collects about $2,002 in state income tax per resident, and homeowners here pay about 2.42% of their home's value in property tax each year.
Is Rock Island safe?
Violent crime is close to the national rate (1.0× in FBI 2019 data).
How are the schools in Rock Island?
Public schools in Rock Island test well below the US average in math and reading (2018–19 state tests, put on one national scale with NAEP), with about 17 students per teacher.
What is the weather like in Rock Island?
Rock Island has cold winters: winter days average around 35°F and summer days around 85°F, with roughly 36″ of snow a year.
Does Rock Island get natural disasters?
Natural disaster risk is moderate, mainly from flooding, cold waves and tornadoes: 5 federally declared disasters have hit the county since 2000, and FEMA expects about 1.2 deaths or injuries per 100,000 residents a year.
What is the nearest major airport to Rock Island?
The nearest major airport is ORD, about 142 mi away.
How Rock Island scores
Each bar compares Rock Island with the other 1,990 places in Best Life Fit Me. A dot shows where it sits between two ends, such as major metro and small town; neither end is better. Coloured bars run from poor (red) to excellent (green).
Places like Rock Island
These places have the most similar overall profile across all 24 aspects.
The circle is each place's all-round score out of 100: the average of its 15 quality scores, from red (poor) to green (excellent).
Nearby
See all the best places to live in Illinois.
Is Rock Island right for you?
Answer 27 quick questions and see how it ranks against your priorities.