Is Machesney Park a good place to live?
Machesney Park grades D overall, 737th among Illinois's 767 graded towns, mostly because of schools. Its schools rank behind 92% of the state's. In its favor, it has 5 miles of trail. On hazard risk, just 110 of Illinois’ 1,285 towns do worse. Machesney Park's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 86% of U.S. towns. The biggest park or preserve is Williams Park, at 48 acres.
93% of working residents leave Machesney Park for work
Where Machesney Park’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Machesney Park grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Machesney Park is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Machesney Park: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Machesney Park, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 12, 2025.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Machesney Park.
Machesney Park has home values climbing faster than Illinois’s and has seen reported crime fall beyond ordinary swings, but it has a long record of flood insurance claims.
Machesney Park keeps 5.4% of its land conserved
Parks and preserves in Machesney Park: 12, covering 125 acres. In Machesney Park, the concentration of trails is 0.4 miles per square mile, against 0.3 in Illinois’ towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns.
| Machesney Park | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 5.4% | 3.6% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Schoonmaker Park | 0.7 mi | 18 |
| 2. Williams Park | — | 48 |
| 3. Willow Creek Recreation Path | — | 30 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Machesney Park has a high natural-hazard risk, chiefly from inland flooding
378 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 53 properties have flooded more than once.
FEMA puts nearly two thirds of Machesney Park’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 13% to cold waves. The natural-hazard score from FEMA for Machesney Park comes to 79 of 100. 378 flood insurance claims have been paid in the town since 1978.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Machesney Park has 0.5 jobs per working resident, so most workers leave town for work
The average commute for its 10,827 working residents takes 21.7 minutes, against 27.8 across Illinois.
In Machesney Park, 14% of residents live below the poverty line. For most workers, Machesney Park is a place to come home to: only 7% work in town. The typical journey to work in the town is 22 minutes. The top destinations are Rockford (33%), Loves Park (11%) and Chicago (4%).
| Machesney Park | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 14% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 9.1% | 11% | 11% |
| Median household income | $75,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The typical home in Machesney Park: about $210K
Home values rose 53% in five years, to about $210K, against 30% across Illinois.
On the market in Machesney Park: a median 7 days to sell. Home values are up 9.6% over the year to September 2026. In Machesney Park, 80% of households live in a home they own, where Illinois’ towns sit at 75% and U.S. towns at 73%.
| Machesney Park | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 80% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,102 a month | $1,129 a month | $1,185 a month |
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Machesney Park has four seasons and pleasant summers
The range runs from 13° on a January night to 83° on a July afternoon, with about 38 inches of snow a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Residents of Machesney Park are less healthy than 64% of U.S. towns
Among adults in Machesney Park, 20% say their health is fair or poor. Two figures for adults in the town: 16% smoke cigarettes, 18% report frequent mental distress.
| Machesney Park | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 37% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 13% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 17% | 17% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | Machesney Park | IL |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 15% | 10.3% |
| More smokers | 16.2% | 12.1% |
| More adults with COPD | 8.2% | 6.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
For safety, Machesney Park earns a C+
Reported crimes fell from 385 to 365 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
For Machesney Park, the rate of thefts and burglaries is 14.4 per 1,000 residents. Its rate of reported violence is 1.6 per 1,000 residents.
| Machesney Park | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 14.4 per 1,000 residents | 7.9 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.6 per 1,000 residents | 1 | 1.6 |
Violent crime per 1,000 residents
Property crime per 1,000 residents
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Illinois Railway Museum and 11 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Machesney Park. Close and well known come first.
27 mi MuseumIllinois Railway Museum
8 mi Stadium & arenaBMO Center
40 mi TheatreAlpine Valley Music Theatre
6 mi GardenAnderson Japanese Gardens
33 mi TheatreEgyptian Theatre, DeKalb
30 mi TheatreWoodstock Opera HousePhoto credits
Illinois Railway Museum: The original uploader was Slambo at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 2.0 · BMO Center: SimLibrarian, CC0 · Alpine Valley Music Theatre: chad davis, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Anderson Japanese Gardens: M. Readey, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Egyptian Theatre, DeKalb: Andy McMurray, CC BY 2.5 · Woodstock Opera House: HrAtsuo, CC0
Everything we know about Machesney Park
Colleges nearby
4 within 15 miles of the center of Machesney Park
About 4 of every 100 Machesney Park residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
About Machesney Park
Village in Illinois, United States
Machesney Park is a village located in Winnebago County, Illinois, United States. The population was 22,950 at the 2020 census. Machesney Park is part of the Rockford metropolitan area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Established
- 1981
- Area
- 13 sq mi
- Elevation
- 741 ft
- ZIP code
- 61115
Machesney Park’s neighbors
6 towns share a border with Machesney Park.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Machesney Park | #737 | D | C+ | C+ | D | C+ |
| Loves Park | #742 | D | C+ | C+ | D | C |
| Harlem Township | #712 | D | C+ | — | D | B− |
| Owen Township | #762 | D− | C | — | D | D− |
| Roscoe Township | #315 | B+ | C− | — | A | B+ |
| Rockford | #767 | D− | C+ | D− | D | D |
| Roscoe | #314 | B+ | C− | B+ | A | A− |
Harlem Township, Owen Township and Roscoe Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Machesney Park with a neighbor →
Questions about Machesney Park
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Machesney Park, IL a good place to live?
It grades C+ for health, C+ for safety and D for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a D.
Is Machesney Park, IL expensive?
That is 3.1 years of the area's median household income ($68,033 across the Rockford, IL metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.