Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Moline gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $150K, 2.1 years of the Davenport metro’s $73K median household income. It grades C overall, 612th of 767 graded towns in Illinois. The low prices come with trade-offs. Its police reported 174 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 89% of U.S. towns. On the plus side, it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 77% of U.S. towns. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 94% of U.S. towns, with 5 places on the National Register. Moline’s property crime rate is 28.9 per 1,000 residents, above both Illinois’ towns (7.9) and U.S. towns (9.9). On history, just 58 of Illinois’ 1,285 towns do better. Moline is home to Black Hawk College.
Where Moline beats most towns.
Census counts: 894 in 1840, 42,985 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1840 and 4 maps from 1949 on.
5 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Moline is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Moline. Close and well known come first.
4 mi Ancient siteRock Island Arsenal
4 mi MuseumBlack Hawk State Historic Site
5 mi MuseumFigge Art Museum77K visitors a year4 mi Zoo & aquariumNiabi Zoo
7 mi MuseumPutnam Museum
6 mi GardenVander Veer Botanical ParkRock Island Arsenal: Robert A, Ryan, J. Ceronia, and Bruce A. Harms, Photographers, Public domain · Black Hawk State Historic Site: Bill Whittaker (talk). Original uploader was Billwhittaker at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Figge Art Museum: Ctjf83, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Putnam Museum: Ctjf83 of English Wikipedia (log), Public domain · Vander Veer Botanical Park: David Wilson, CC BY 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Moline, 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.
Ordered by what stands out in Moline.
Moline sends many workers across the state line to Davenport and has homes that are cheap against local pay, but it has a long record of flood insurance claims.
11 miles of trail in 22 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Greenvalley Park, 303 acres with 1.3 miles of trail. Moline’s trail density is 0.7 miles per square mile.
| Moline | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.7 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 5% | 3.6% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Sylvan Island | 4.3 mi | 37 |
| 2. Prospect Park | 1.5 mi | 28 |
| 3. Stephens Park | 1.4 mi | 28 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The violent crime rate in Moline is 4.1 per 1,000 residents. Moline reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 89% report less.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
At 2.1 years of the Davenport metro’s $73K median household income, the typical home (about $150K) costs less against local pay than in 75% of Illinois towns; that ratio is one input to its B for cost of living. At about $150K, home values are up 12% in five years, against a rise of 30% across Illinois.
The typical Moline home is worth about $150,000, up 3.2% in a year, 49% below the Illinois typical home. 67% of households own their home in Moline.
| Moline | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $900 a month | $1,129 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 67% | 75% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
239 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 18 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 73% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 239 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Moline.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Moline has cold, snowy winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 15° and about 36 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
26% of working residents cross a state line to work, Davenport among the top destinations. Moline has about as many jobs (18,328) as working residents, but only 3,547 people both live and work here.
About one in 5 of Moline’s working residents works in town. 16% of Moline residents live below the poverty line. Since 2013, Moline has lost 4,817 jobs, to 18,328 in 2023.
| Moline | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 18 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 20% | 8.3% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 16% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $68,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Illinois average. 29% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 38% across Illinois.
| Moline | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 38 years | 40.7 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 24% | 22% | 22% |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±1.2 points. Across Illinois, 50.6% of residents are women. Among residents 75 and older, 51% are men (IL 41%). Median age: women 39.5, men 37.2.
| Moline | IL | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.4% | 11.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 11.7% | 10.4% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 13.4% | 13.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.5% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.3% | 12.4% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.1% | 10% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 8.6% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 9.7% | 9.5% | 10.4% |
| High school | 26.4% | 25.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 23.9% | 19.2% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 11.2% | 8.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 18.4% | 22.6% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 10.4% | 15.3% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Moline beats the Illinois average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 10.
| Moline | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 37% | 35% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 13% | 14% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 7.9% | 8.1% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 18% | 19% |
| What stands out | Moline | IL |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 14.2% | 10.3% |
| More adults with COPD | 8.1% | 6.3% |
| More adults with heart disease | 7.2% | 5.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
7 within 15 miles of the center of Moline
About 5 of every 100 Moline residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Illinois.
5 places in Moline on the National Register of Historic Places.
61 notable people were born in Moline.
City in Illinois, United States
Moline ( moh-LEEN) is a city in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The population was 42,985 as of the 2020 census, and was estimated at 42,362 in 2025. It is the largest city in Rock Island County and the 36th-most populous in Illinois outside the Chicago metropolitan area. Moline is one of the Quad Cities at the confluence of the Rock and Mississippi rivers, along with neighboring East Moline and Rock Island in Illinois and the cities of Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa. The Quad Cities metropolitan area had a population of approximately 380,452 as of 2025. Moline was established in 1843. The name derives from the French moulin meaning "mill [town]". The corporate headquarters o…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
10 towns share a border with Moline.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moline | #612 | C | B | D | C+ | C+ |
| Rock Island | #719 | D | B+ | D | D | C |
| Moline Township | #490 | B− | B | — | C+ | C+ |
| East Moline | #640 | C− | B+ | C− | C− | C+ |
| Rock Island Arsenal | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| South Moline Township | #524 | C+ | B | — | C | C+ |
| Coal Valley · Coal Valley Township | #296 | B+ | B− | A− | B− | A− |
| Rock Island Township | #671 | C− | B+ | — | D | C |
Moline Township, South Moline Township and Rock Island Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Rock Island Arsenal isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Coal Valley Township and Coal Valley are one community, graded once. Compare Moline with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Moline grades C overall, better than 27% of U.S. towns and #612 of 767 in Illinois. It grades C+ for health, D for safety and C+ for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
61 notable people were born here, including Ken Berry and David A. Kolb.
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